take one step and then another

New beginnings are all around us. They come as the beginning of new days, weeks, months, or even years. With them come opportunities to improve our lives, master a skill, or pursue a dream. 

Sometimes, though, the dream dissolves or slips out of our reach often because of forces beyond our control. We've all been there. Those who are faint-hearted falter and wait for another season or a seemingly better hour. And then there are those who, undeterred, take one step and then another as they move forward with their lives. 

Take John Bushman for example. He was a settler in the late 1800s who put down roots in a desolate part of the northern Arizona desert. Water was scarce, irrigation a necessity. Bushman and a handful of others built a dam by dragging rocks, broken branches, and stumps from the hillsides, hoping to channel a small stream into a makeshift reservoir. 

But the dam never held. Year after year they built the dam, and each time it failed. One day, after another disappointing collapse, Bushman wrote in his journal: "Dam washed out again. We are not discouraged."

Those lines tell us much about the strength and vision of John Bushman and his neighbors. They did not give up. They mustered patience, courage, and sheer grit to build and rebuild in that barren land. 

We learn from their experience that goals and dreams are not always measured in outcomes but often in attitudes. We gain a lot from beginning and then having to push on by beginning again. 

So even if you feel that your dreams and goals have washed out in the past, build them up again. Each new day is a fresh start, a clean slate, a new chance to change, improve, and try again. In the very process lie opportunities immeasurable for growth and good fortune.