Rolling down hill

I really enjoyed catching up with a good friend from Pretoria over dinner tonight. One of the things it reminded me of is that I love to help build the energy of people who want to do things. What I mean is that there are lots of people with great ideas and I love to help them to go from the idea to the first steps. That initial step is actually a really hard one to make – there is a part of us which fights it, which pushes against us sticking our neck out and doing something, creating something – and I really enjoy helping people to see past the fear and just take that first step. Once you’ve taken that first step it is like pushing a boulder down a hill, it just gathers momentum.

Interestingly it is something that I have been really poor at in my own life. I have failed to capitalise on the position that I have and to create things, so it is a habit that I am working on building. Maybe building the habit is like throwing pebbles down the hill. The boulder might seem hard to get rolling, but throwing a small pebble, and then a slightly bigger one, and so on builds a habit so that when you have to push a boulder the action comes so naturally that you only realise what you’ve done once the boulder is rolling and it is too late.

2 Comments

  1. Reply
    Stefan van der Walt March 11, 2012

    If each person just rolled a small pebble down the hill, we’d be done with the task at hand already! That doesn’t stop me from dreaming about rolling the most massive rock (ever), but it’s good to realise that you can do a lot of good before getting there.

  2. Reply
    Duncan Drennan March 11, 2012

    Hey Stefan! I think you already have the habit of creating, of overcoming the fear that stops so many from doing something. Some people just need to start, and to start in a way which gives them a feeling of success. I wish more people (including myself) could be as creative as you (in the sense of actually changing your ideas into realities).

    Lots of love to you from this side of the ocean.

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