What does Lao Tzu’s famous quotation “A journey of a thousand miles starts beneath one’s feet” really mean? It suggests that you get started, you take action, that’s simple enough, but is there a deeper meaning?
I gave myself a summer project to read through as many classics as I could since I did not study English literature or world literature for that matter in university. I also decided that I would write a substantial amount of profiles and conduct many interviews so that I’m always ahead. I decided how much I wanted to accomplish during the summer, and now looking back, even Wonder Woman couldn’t get that much done in the allotted time frame.
I thought through everything and created my plan. The problem was the plan was great on paper, but when I tried to execute, it wasn’t working anywhere close to the plan. I was frustrated, overwhelmed, and couldn’t get started, and I saw time disappearing and me not accomplishing an awful lot.
I got an amazing number of interviews done, but I haven’t transcribed most of them. I got a lot of reading done, but I wasn’t reading the classics. I developed a list of amazing people to do profiles on and even did the research, but I wasn’t extracting the information to write the actual profiles.
I changed my frame of reference, and the way I approached my summer project, after I had frittered away half the time. I pulled out the classic books that I would read each week, and read from that pile. I decided which profiles I would write each week but focused on only one at a time, and last Friday while I was checking how many I had written, I was shocked by how much I had accomplished. I don’t have a perfect system, but I am better off than when I first started. There are times when I didn’t want to read the classics, or conduct an interview or write a profile, but the commitment I made to myself keeps me going.
Going through the experience made me really get Lao Tzu’s quotation “A journey of a thousand miles starts beneath one’s feet” on all levels. I realized that I am on a journey to my destination, and I’m walking there. When I walk, I put one foot in front of the other, step by step. That’s really all we can do, and the amazing thing is that when we stop from time to time just to see how far we have journeyed we discover that we have covered a lot of ground.
This has been a big learning for me this summer. We can know something on the surface level, but until we learn it on a much deeper level, we will never understand the true meaning. What does “A journey of a thousand miles starts beneath one’s feet” means to you? The quote is from Tao Te Ching
by Lao Tzu.
How can you use this information? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Liked this post? Share it and subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Author Bio: Avil Beckford, an expert interviewer, entrepreneur and published author is passionate about books and professional development, and that's why she founded The Invisible Mentor and the Virtual Literary World Tour to give you your ideal mentors virtually in the palm of your hands by offering book reviews and book summaries, biographies of wise people and interviews of successful people.
Book links are affiliate links.
