Don’t Leap, Take the Staircase

-Pinak Pani Barua |

It’s one life, we need to make it big!! How often we have heard this while growing up?  Books, movies even ads also appeal to us to make it big. But it never states how big we should dream. People often make mistakes by dreaming too big and then fall into depression after failing to achieve it. But that doesn’t mean that you should dream small, I am not saying that either. Dreaming small is a felony that you commit to yourself. Dreams are all that matters in life, without them it’s just a process of breathing in and out. Also, I believe dreams are the only things that you can’t buy with money. Everything else can be, all you need to know is where to invest. Dreams don’t require anything in exchange; the rich and the poor can have the same big dream. But then the question remains, should our dreams be too big?

Well, the answer is that your dreams can be as big as it gets but you need to follow a certain path while trying to achieve them. Let me try to explain this from a different perspective-

Suppose you are standing on the ground in front of a building. Now your big dream is to reach the top of that building. The mistake many people make is that they try to cover that vertical distance in a single leap and as a consequence hurt themselves. Success can be alluring, forcing people to take shortcuts or can make people impatient. The precise way to reach the top of that building is by taking the staircase or you can use a ladder if you don’t have the key to the building. But the big dream should only be pursued step by step. Every step is itself a small goal or dream. It’s like those video games where you have to conquer each small level to finally meet the boss villain. And each level that you conquer is a small achievement in itself. You should rejoice as well as respect those small achievements. Whenever you will feel tired; whenever you will feel that you can advance no more; just look back at those small achievements. You are being on that staircase is enough to feel proud of yourself; most will not even come close to the building. They will keep staring at the goal from the road wishing for some bird to snatch them and take them to the destination.

Don’t keep waiting for the bird. Don’t try to take the shortcut. Don’t just have one big dream. Instead divide it into multiple small dreams, all directing towards that big dream. If they are not directed towards the same point then those small achievements will not mean much. It’s like moving through steps of different staircases. For example, someone may be good at many things but for achieving success at one point in time, you need to focus on one thing only. You can’t be a successful cricketer, a successful singer, and a successful cook at the same time. So don’t move through multiple staircases at the same time. Someone may reach the top using a single staircase much sooner than you and then it will be frustrating.

 So, take a single staircase at one point in time and try to move ahead step by step. Eventually, it will be the journey through that staircase which will be remembered for long. The struggle will give you one of the most valuable assets of your life, experience. An experienced man feels much more comfortable while dealing with various hurdles of life. So while moving through that staircase, even if you fail you will be gaining this asset, much more valuable than money.

So, don’t just stay on the road staring at your goal. Enter the building and keep moving. You are a winner as long as you are in that staircase. Even if you don’t make it to the top, you will be gaining a lot As revolutionary political leader Nelson Mandela once rightly said,

“I never lose. I either win or learn”.