Courage, Faith, and Always Moving Forward…

Martin Luther King Jr was born on 15th January 1929*, and so I’ve been thinking about this great man, and some of the magnificent and inspirational things he said and did. “Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles” is something he said in his autobiography and, for me, goes hand in hand with "Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase" which is a quote often attributed to him, thought to be an idea he expressed privately to friends during his years of civil rights campaigning.

Whether or not he said this publicly, the idea of us keeping moving towards our goals, however slowly, is a strong point that resonates with me. Not least this is because I often use the image of a ladder with many rungs, next to a ladder with few rungs, when talking with clients about setting more small, achievable, even ‘micro’ steps which can keep us moving in the right direction more quickly than fewer, harder to achieve and sometimes off-putting targets. @linesbyloes illustrates this brilliantly, and I keep reminding myself of this as we refurbish our flat and the goal of moving in still seems so far off, even though I know we’re moving in the right direction and it won’t be long!

It takes courage and faith in our ability to achieve our goals to keep moving forwards, up the staircase or ladder, regardless of the size of the steps we give ourselves.  We all have different ways of encouraging ourselves, and this becomes more difficult when times are hard or things are unclear.  The idea that we can build our faith in ourselves and our courage so we can use them to move forward is powerful and gives us agency. 

When things are difficult, when there are obstacles, I turn to my own ‘vision statement’ to remind myself of why it is that I do what I do, and my conviction in this vision, my faith in my courage and determination for this end-goal allows me to push on and find ways around these obstacles.

Even small steps forward will keep us going in the right direction, and will get us there in the end! 

And yes, we will be in that flat very soon, I’m sure!

Reflections:

What can you do to move forward and progress, however small?

What obstacles are there currently, and what gives you the courage and faith to continue on despite these challenges?

What is it about your vision, your end goal, that makes you want to progress?

What is your favourite, or most inspirational quote from Martin Luther King Jr?

*In the USA this is commemorated annually with Martin Luther King Day, which is always celebrated on the 3rd Monday of January, which this year is 17th January.