Take one step, take another Morton Hunter
It was a scorching hot July day in Philadelphia - to this day, 56 years later, I can still feel the scorching heat wave of that year. The five boys I was with were tired of playing pinball and burning holes in dry leaves with lenses and were looking for something else to do. Little Ned with freckles on his face said: "Hey! I have an idea. We haven't climbed the cliff for a long time." "Let's go!" someone echoed. Then they set off, trotting along panting like a pack of lost puppies. Erlao, I hesitated. A sickly me, I longed to be as brave and active as them, but I spent most of the past eight years as a child and took my mother's warnings to heart—that I wasn't as strong as other kids and couldn't take risks. "Come on!" Jerry yelled at me - he was my best friend. "Just because you were sick in the past, you have to be a coward? That doesn't make sense." I'm coming! ” I shouted, and ran after them. We crossed the park, entered the woods, and finally came to a clearing. Far away on the other side, there was a cliff, like an almost vertical wall rising abruptly from the rock. In the middle, there are dirt slopes on all sides, covered with jagged bushes and Ailanthus saplings. It is only about 60 feet from the jumbled rock right to the edge of the top turf, but to me, it is Ziyanhe. The incarnation of the impossible. The other children climbed up one after another, finding a place to put their hands and feet on the protruding rocks and soil. I hesitated until the other children climbed to the top, and then I started to feel satisfied. My head was sweating profusely and my whole body was trembling as I climbed up. My hands were here and my feet were there. My heart was beating in my thin chest. I tried my best to climb up. At some point, I turned back and went down. I glanced at it, then was frightened. The ground beneath the cliffs looked very far away; if I slipped, I would fall off the cliff, hit the cliff, and fall to pieces on the rocks.
But those. The boys had climbed to the rock a third and a half from the top of the cliff, which was about five or six feet deep and fifteen feet long. I tried my best to crawl toward them, trying to get as close to the inside as I could. Hai clung to the surface of the rock. The other children were standing near the edge. This scene made me feel sick. I secretly clung to the rock behind me and looked down, feeling dizzy. An unknown force seemed to be forcing me to fall. I clung to a rock, feeling dizzy. I wanted to turn back, but I knew it was too far and too dangerous. Halfway up the cliff, I would grow weak, let go, and fall to my death. But the path to the top looked worse—higher, more unpredictable, and I couldn't get up. Someone was crying and groaning; I wanted to know who it was, and finally realized it was me.
Time passed slowly. The shadows were slowly lengthening, the sun was no longer under the low treetops in the west, and night began. There was
silence around me. I was lying on the rock, in a daze, and I was motionless with fear and fatigue. I couldn't even think about how to get back to Shi's house safely. In the dusk, the first star 2. Appearing in the sky, the ground below the cliff began to blur, but there was a flash of light in the woods, and then I heard Jerry and Dad yell. But what could he do? He is a stout middle-aged man, and he cannot climb up. 7 Even if he climbs up, what can he do?
Dad stands at the foot of the cliff so that he can see me. He shined his flashlight on me, and then shouted: "Come on now." He said in a very normal and comforting tone: "It's time to have dinner."
"I can't! I will fall! I will fall to death." !" I cried loudly.
"If you can climb up, just come down and I will illuminate it for you."
"No, I can't! It's too far, too difficult! I can't do it!" I roared.
"Listen to me." Dad~ continued: "Don't think about how far it is or how difficult it is. What you need to think about is taking a small step. You can do this. Wherever the flashlight is pointing, look and see that Is there a stone? "The light beam wandered around and pointed at a protruding stone under the rock. "Did you see it?" he asked loudly.
I moved slowly. "I saw it." I replied.
"Okay, now turn around and put your left foot on that rock. That's what you're going to do. It's just a little bit below you. You can do it. Don't worry about what's next, and don't Look down and take the first step. Trust me, it looks like I can do it. I moved a bit, carefully felt the rock at the construction site with my left foot, and found it. "Great," Dad yelled, "Now, go down a little to the right. There's another foothold there, just a few inches away. Move your right foot and go down slowly. That's what you have to do. Just think about the next step, don’t think about anything else.” I did it. "Okay, now let go of your left hand and grab the trunk at the back, right on the edge, where I shine my flashlight. This is what you have to do." Once again, I did it. Just like that, one step at a time, one place to stay at a time, and I climbed down as he said. Dad~ emphasized that I only need to do a simple action every time, and never gave me a chance to stop and think that the road below was still very long. He kept telling me that I would do the next thing. Suddenly, I took the last step down, stepped on the messy rocks at the bottom, threw myself into Dad's strong arms, sobbed, and surprisingly, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. and a similar feeling of pride. Since then, there have been many moments in my life when I was faced with an unreachable goal or a daunting situation. When I felt panicked
, I was able to deal with it easily—because I remembered what happened on the cliff a long time ago. That lesson. I reminded myself not to look at the rocks below, but to pay attention to the relatively easy and easy first small step. Take one small step, then another small step, and feel the sense of accomplishment brought by each step until you reach your goal. . At this time, when you look back, you will be surprised and proud of the long road you have traveled.
"If you can climb up, come down and I will illuminate it for you."
"Don't think about how far it is or how difficult it is. What you need to think about is taking a small step and you can do it."
"You can do it. Don't worry about the next thing, don't look down, just take the first step. Trust me"
What powerful and encouraging words, the author's father, although he is strong, knows how to guide his children correctly Overcoming the psychological difficulties enabled the author to live a leisurely life for the rest of his life. The following sentence:
"There have been many moments in my life since then, when faced with an unattainable goal or a situation that scares a person. When I feel panic
and feel overwhelmed, I can easily cope with it - because I think of the cliff a long time ago. That lesson. I reminded myself not to look at the rocks below, but to pay attention to the relatively easy and easy first small step. Take one small step, then another small step, and experience the sense of accomplishment brought by each step. Until you reach your goal, when you look back, you will be surprised and proud of the long journey you have taken.”
