2-26: Jump Quest
Humbled by the Steps of Life
Life is one big jump quest. Imagine one of those side-scrolling video games where you have to leap from platform to platform without falling, each jump requiring proper timing, courage, and persistence. In this jump quest of life, you’re taking one step at a time on a spiral staircase. Sometimes you trip and fall a few floors. Some days you reach what you think surely is the top, only to realize you couldn’t see the next step until the following day when the clouds drifted past. At times you wonder how on Earth you’ll be able to reach the next step. Then you remember, just like a video game, you can use all of the resources at your disposal. Maybe your brother has a unique perspective on just how to get there. Maybe you learn how to build a pair of anti-gravity boots that only last long enough to get you to the next step. Maybe it’s as simple as a friend having a ladder that you can borrow?
On many occasions, we think to ourselves how quickly time is passing by. We look down the staircase and it feels like just yesterday we were a tiny little dot all the way down there. Other times, we get distracted and might sit there on a step for a while, like a bored kid before iPads. We’ll stare way off in the distance at someone else marching up their staircase like it’s nothing. They don’t even know you exist, yet your eyes are locked on them while you’re standing still. Blink, and the step you’re standing on gives out. You find yourself a floor lower and you’re shaken from the fall. You brush it off and take one more step. Each step upward is a test of patience and resilience, each stumble a small reminder of how much further you can still grow.
Every staircase looks different. Some might even have an elevator in them, zooming you up a hundred stories in seconds, leaving you to marvel at how quickly progress can come when timing is right. Others might have quicksand leaving you stuck for days, forcing you to build patience and persistence. Some steps creak, testing your confidence, while others feel solid and reassuring beneath your feet. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you find yourself fooled by a false-step that snaps in half before your eyes. These unexpected setbacks remind you to stay alert, knowing that there is something to be learned from every step. You approach the next one wiser and more confident, having been humbled by the steps of life.
We all face challenges that test our patience, adaptability, and faith. The higher we climb, the harder it is to see where to place our foot next. Embracing this uncertainty allows us to grow through obstacles and is part of what makes the climb worthwhile. Perseverance means trusting that each step brings us closer to who we’re meant to be, even when progress feels slow or uncertain. Keep moving, even when the clouds haven’t cleared, because it’s the act of climbing itself that reveals who we truly are.