Steps, Big and Small

I have this goal to post every single day, but tonight when I sat down I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about — because it’s actually been a good day. And lately, I’ve caught myself wondering where my good days have gone.

Still, I’ve been showing up for my goals, even when they’ve zigzagged like a pinball, even when my brain is juggling a dozen half-built ideas. For years I judged myself for that inconsistency, and somewhere along the way I started to believe it was just who I was. That belief froze me more times than I can count.

But in the last few weeks something has shifted. I remembered I’m more than the pinball. I’m a fighter. I’m resourceful, resilient, relentless. And this past week I’ve been relentless in the simplest way possible: by doing one thing, every day, to move forward.

And here’s what happened. Today, I got good news on a proposal I sent out. Today, someone supported this blog on Ko-fi (thank you!). And as a bonus, I got that notification while I was talking to my new mentor — which meant I got to celebrate that little win with someone else instead of just cheering alone in my kitchen.

This is why I keep posting. Why I keep doing the work, even in tiny increments. Because those little pieces stack up. They build traction. Not just in the external stuff — like proposals or blog support — but in the quieter things. My confidence. My focus. My faith in myself.

Now here I am with a blog that more than one person is reading, a proposal that’s moving forward, and a win I got to share out loud. Tonight I get to take a breath and sit in the stillness of a breakthrough.

In my martial arts life, it’s been my honor to train under Kenpo Grandmaster Paul Taylor. After a particularly difficult lesson, I once told him how frustrated I was with my slow progress. In his usual way, full of simple but profound wisdom, he told me, “You know, Karla, small steps want to become bigger steps.” I had never heard it put like that before — that a small step already knows it belongs to a bigger picture. I’ve never forgotten that.

This month, his words have proven themselves true.

And if you’re in it right now, if you’re stuck in the thick of your own storm, know this: the shift does come. Maybe not today. Maybe not next week. But it does come.

This is the way. (IYKYK)