This is a short article I wrote in 2012 about making changes in our live. I do think the idea of taking small steps towards booming the person we want to be applies to all of us. However, those who suffer from hip and knee osteoarthritis are at a disadvantage. While they may want to change, their pain makes it very difficult for them too.
The goal of treatment of osteoarthritis is to get patients back to the things they want to do. Many have slowly let go of being active as their pain increased. Then, with surgery, they are able to start pursuing the things they enjoy once again.
Each day after surgery, they take a new step, both literally and metaphorically, towards getting their life back.
Why you Need to Take One Small Step Everyday
Becoming someone different is an act of taking one small step every day.
We change not through a decision, but through the small work of daily decisions added up over time. There came a moment in my life when I chose to go to medical school. But that decision isn’t what turned me into a doctor.
It was the 4 years of college.
The 4 years of medical school.
The 5 years of residency.
The 1 year of fellowship.
14 years. 5,110 days. 122,640 hours of becoming. Just a little bit each day.
Too many hope for instant change. For whatever reason life does not work this way. Instead of trying to take giant leaps all at once, we have to take little steps. But we have to do it every day.
Today is a chance to take that one small step in the right direction. Start there. Then repeat.
The alternative is to do nothing. To stay put. To remain the same. And of course, this adds up too. Just a little bit each day.
Who are you trying to become? What step will you take today?
