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ePaper created 2014-06-22, 15:43:25 | version 1.31.00
5The English Newspaper for Gran Canaria TheCanaryNews.com News, Views & Sunshine Summer 2014 The greatest journeys all start with a single step When you stand at the bottom of a mountain, you can rarely see a clear route to the top. It is too far away and the path too twisty and hidden behind obstacles. The only way to climb the sucker is to start – and then keep putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time. There’s a quote from Martin Luther King that I love: “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.” It is good advice. When you are setting out on a long and difficult journey to- wards your goal, you will not be able to foresee every obstacle or anticipate every lucky break. But what you will find is that with every step you gain experience, perspective, skill and con- fidence. It is these elements that will ultimately help you reach your goal. But you only gain experience, perspective, skill and confidence when you start moving. See how it works now? Sometimes the journey ahead can feel so daunting and so im- plausible that we lack the courage to take the first step. And there is never a shortage of good excuses: it’s not the right time; the odds are too stacked against me; or no one like me has ever done it before. I’m also willing to bet that Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Everest, or even Thomas Edison, trying thousands and thousands of times to make the light bulb work, had a good list of excuses that they could have used, too. And I can promise you they all felt inadequate at many times along their path. You know what the sad thing is? It’s that most people never find out what they are truly capable of, because the mountain looks frightening from the bottom, before you begin. It is easier to look down than up. There’s a poignant poem by Christopher Logue that I’m often reminded of when people tell me their ‘reasons’ for not em- barking on a great adventure: Come to the edge. We might fall. Come to the edge. It’s too high! COME TO THE EDGE! And they came, and we pushed, And they flew. I have a sneaking suspicion that if you can just take that first step off the edge, you might find that you, too, can fly. If you can just take that first step towards your own dreams – take that enormous leap of faith towards beginning whatever it is – then new possibilities open up before you. It is the magic of beginning. Things start to happen. Then it is all about hanging on for the ride – keeping cheerful, not quitting, trusting the right people, listening to that inner voice, doing what others won’t or can’t, and never losing sight of the goal. ■ Bear Grylls is an adventurer, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his television series Born Survivor, known as Man Vs Wild in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Bear spent three years in the SAS and is one of the youngest Britons to climb Mount Everest, doing so at the age of 23. In July 2009, he be- came the youngest ever Chief Scout at the age of 35. *Article first published by our media partners at Sorted magazine - http://www.sorted-magazine.com/ BEARBEGINNINGS An excerpt from Bear’s extraordinary book, A Survival Guide for Life, kindly provided to entertain and inspire readers of The Canary News, Views & Sunshine TheCanaryNews.com/Bear Bear@TheCanaryNews.com