That First Stroke…The Magic Power of Just Getting Started 

I

sat at my laptop today just sitting as I searched for those perfect words to share. Those words that convey my heart and my soul. Some piece of wisdom spoken from personal experiences that could save the world – or at least come across as some meaningful bit of sage advice. I sat staring at the blank document in front of me just waiting for the first strike on the keyboard to start the flow. That’s usually all it takes – that first stroke. But, Nope! I got nothing!!

Then, there it was! The first stroke! That’s it!

The first stroke! Isn’t that what everything is all about? Relationships – life experiences – life events. The first stroke!

Now, I will be the first to admit that I feel lost and confused sometimes. Life throws so many punches that getting back up becomes a feat only a super hero could accomplish. That’s how it is with relationships too.

We become comfortable – accustomed to patterns and ways of doing things. Then we find ourselves in that moment of needing to make a change. Whether it’s staying or creating a new life, it’s that first stroke that starts it all.

I’m going to tell you a little story here.

It’s about a woman afraid to step out of her comfort zone and away from a life she had lived for many years. She knew she needed to change something, but those little voices in her head kept telling her she was just fine. Leave everything as it was. Don’t make a big deal over nothing. So she stayed right where she was as she watched life continue to pass her by.

She watched her relationships with her family and friends become strained and difficult. She blamed herself for being less than she could be.

And she stayed because she was afraid of doing better. She was afraid of failing.

Until one day, she took that first stroke.

She opened new blank pages and began writing her life. Writing about those pieces of herself she had forgotten long ago.

Writing about those dreams she had buried long ago. Writing about those desires to step out of herself and become more of what she knew she could be.

With each stroke, her life took such twists and turns. Some of them were painful, and some were joyful. But all taught her great lessons about herself and how she dealt with those in her life. Her family did not understand this new person she was becoming. Her partner in life stood back and decided he would not travel with her. But she wrote, she painted, she sang, she danced. And she loved! She loved him, she loved herself, she loved into existence a new love and life.

She wrote about all those things that became a part of her. She wrote about stories of love lost and love won. She wrote into being a new woman, beautiful and compassionate. In her writing, she sang and painted that new woman – a woman of wisdom, a woman of beauty, a woman who knew the best relationship was with herself.

And all it took was that first stroke!