Peggy Horwitz, LCSW
psychotherapy and
mindfulness training
Contact:
212-971-4422
Committed to Your Well-Being
On The Path
Taking the First Step
Whatever path we take, whether it is to start a new project, begin a new relationship, begin a process of self-discovery, or follow our heart's desire, we have to make a decision to put one foot forward and take a step. Sometimes that very first step is the hardest move to make because by doing so, we risk facing our highest hopes and our deepest fears. When we consider getting on a path or changing directions, we're hoping to make changes to better our lives. Maybe we want to feel happier, more successful or creative; or maybe feel less isolated, constricted, bored or sad, or maybe we're hoping to be more open and authentic. Whatever we imagine, we intrinsically know that despite our best efforts we cannot fully control what happens next or in the moment after that, or the moment after that. We may fly or falter, land safely or with a thump, we may be satisfied, safe, succeed, fail, soar, bomb. Most likely, one or all of these things will happen.
In life and on every path, there will be ups and downs; some things will work out, and some things won't, some things will feel effortless, others not. We cannot predict how things will play out, but one thing we can be sure of, if we don't take that first step, we will be where we have always been, and if we stay where we are, we're not moving along our natural path.
Mindful
Every day
I see or I hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It is what I was born for -
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world -
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant -
but of the ordinary.
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentation.
Oh, good scholar,
say to myself,
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these -
the untrimmable light
of the world
the ocean's shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?
- Mary Oliver in: Why I Wake Early
"Not everything that is faced can be
changed, but nothing can be changed
until it is faced."
- James Baldwin
"The good life is a process not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination."
~ Carl Rogers
"Progress always involves risk. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first."
~ Frederick B. Wilcox
"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
~ Pablo Picasso
