Take a Step Back

The other day I went into WalMart to grab a quick snack comprised of a banana, an apple turnover and some milk. I didn’t want a gallon or a half gallon of milk, I just wanted one of those little bottles that one can drink in the car. After getting the banana, I went over to the dairy section to look for the milk. I stood at the section that had the smaller bottles of chocolate milk and looked. I couldn’t find the plain milk in the small bottles anywhere. I looked at the chocolate milk rack and just below it, and it just wasn’t there! Then an interesting thing happened. I took a step back. In doing this, I was able to see the entire case, in addition to the two cases on either side. Low and behold, there were the containers of milk that I was looking for.

The moment that I stepped back, I could see more, or more of the big picture, as it were. It was at that moment that I realized what that saying meant. You know, the one that says something like, when you are too close to a situation, you need to take a step back away from it. 

The dictionary talks about taking a step back as,“to withdraw from something, especially to consider it from a wider perspective”. It comes from what I literally did in order to see my situation more clearly, and to be able to find a solution to my problem.

I guess that most words of wisdom are created from something that is done, at least once, with a successful result. I have to wonder what the person was doing, who came up with this concept of taking a step back. Maybe looking for some milk to go with breakfast, but probably not.

It’s amazing, however, how something this simple and something that I’ve heard over and over for years, really didn’t hit me until I actually had to do it, and now it makes sense. So, when ever you run into a problem that you feel is difficult to figure out, take that step back. Whether it’s a mental step or a physical step that you need to take, remember that it’s a step back to get a better view of the entire problem as well as a view of the possible solution. In other words, don’t focus so hard on the one problem point that you lose sight of the goal. Take that step back and let it help you move forward toward the the solution or reward that’s waiting for you!

Drew ~