Don’t Look Back

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My youngest has become quite boisterous recently… 

Even when she was immobile you could see by the fire in her eyes she was going to be a handful, so when she finally figured out the mechanics behind crawling, there was no stopping her, she wants to go everywhere, including up the stairs. 

As a father I’m slightly conflicted by this – I see the potential danger of some one who has just learnt how to move wanting to climb something high that she could fall off, so want to protect her, yet I don’t want to discourage that adventurous spirit in her that wants to take the risks to push her abilities. 

The compromise is to stand behind her ready to catch her if needed and just let her get on with it.  In her first few attempts she struggled to make it halfway before she fell back – sometimes from slipping, sometimes from the complacency, not realising how gravity works if she pushes her weight back too much. 

I’m there to catch her, ready until she is up for trying again (usually a few minutes later). 

Then she starts getting better, mastering each step, understanding she needs to put one foot behind the other, so levers herself upwards.  When she works like this without getting distracted she moves up with ease, and soon could climb up the stairs without the need of my support. 

The only time she fails the stair climb is when she looks back at me, distracted as I keep near ready to grab her in the event she does slip backwards or when she just wants to give me a cheeky grin looking for my approval at how good she is. 

There is something about looking backwards that distracts her causing her to fail something she has already achieved.  Perhaps there is a lesson we can all learn from this – don’t look back. 

We have probably all done this in our lives recently, looking back: 

• for validation of others. 
• at a past mistake we wish we could rectify. 
• wondering what our life would be like if we made another choice. 

But by looking back we are losing the ability to see what opportunities are in front of us.  It distracts us and makes us lose our balance with progress. 

The key is to approach our life with confidence, not look for approval, not living in regret, going forward and pursuing the rich opportunities to achieve our potential. 

Don’t look back… 

And reach the top of the stairs. 

Thanks for reading, wishing you the best in your success.

James @Perfect Manifesto.

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