Stairway to Devon

After seven hours of driving, we arrived at our new home on the banks of the River Torridge and my wife and I both had the same thought: we’ve made a mistake.

It wasn’t the house itself. That’s fine - as rental properties go - and has all the rooms we need (plus some astonishing views across the water to the so-called ‘Little White Town’ of Bideford). It was the steps down to our new home.

It’s not as though we didn’t know they were there, either. We’d seen pictures and a short video sent to us by the letting agency. But as we lived so far away, a visit prior to signing up to the lease just wasn’t practical. So we’d taken a chance, a somewhat calculated risk on a property we’d not stepped foot in.

Now we were faced with the reality of having to haul our worldly belongings down this flight of steps that looked very different in real life compared to the pictures - all 21 of them, 16 feet down at an angle of about 35 degrees, in high winds and light drizzly rain. Boxes and bags are one thing - white goods, a lounge suite, assorted heavy wooden furniture and a king size mattress are something else.

But we had no choice. Turning the van around and heading back to Lytham was not an option. We had to get the job done.

So we did.

Later on, as the exertions of the day began to manifest in sore muscles and aching joints, we both agreed that had we seen the property in person beforehand, we would have never agreed to sign up to the tenancy purely based on the steps.

That’s not to say we regret doing it - far from it - it’s just that we know we would have talked ourselves out of the house on the basis that we would not have thought ourselves capable of being able to transport almost a tonne of belongings down such an extensive, steep set of steps without anyone else to help.

And that got me thinking about how important attitude is to an outcome. It puts me in mind of that famous quote often attributed to Henry Ford (although he’d been dead a while by the time it was first attached to his name so it’s far from certain he actually said these words):

Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re certainly right

As I said, we knew the steps were there, but as we hadn’t seen them in person we were able to dismiss any negativity about the challenges of moving in. We’d find a way, we’d manage. It wouldn’t be that bad.

Ha! Famous last words.

But important last words in terms of our attitude towards the new house. We didn’t have time to think “we can’t”, we could only focus on what could and indeed had to be done. In the end, we had no choice but to traverse those steps dozens and dozens of times - straining, angling and cursing each item down and round and in through the front door.

It seemed appropriate to post this as we enter a New Year. I’ve never been one for making resolutions, I’ve never seen the point. I’ve always been of the opinion that if doing something, changing something is right for you then the right time to do something, change something is now, whenever ‘now’ is.

But whether you’re a New Year’s Resolution type of person or not, focusing on the ‘how’ and not just the ‘what’ is the key to success. And sometimes a leap of faith is required to achieve a goal and avoid ‘analysis paralysis’.

I’m not saying a Positive Mental Attitude is all you need. You can’t just “believe” your way to success in life. But believing you can rather than thinking of all the reasons why you can’t certainly goes a long way to putting you on the right path.

Like this path. Just outside my new front door

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