Still Standing: When the Step Back Becomes the Dance

 

I found my rhythm when I finally understood this truth:

the step back was always part of the dance.

For a long time, I thought progress was supposed to look clean straight lines, constant wins, no pauses, no setbacks. But real growth doesn’t move like a checklist. It moves like music. Sometimes you advance. Sometimes you retreat. Sometimes that step back is the exact move that keeps you from falling apart.

From the Bottom to the Top:  No Landing Strip

I went straight from the bottom to the top with no landing.

No safety net. No guaranteed applause. Just faith, effort, and the refusal to quit.

That kind of rise doesn’t come with comfort. It comes with pressure. It comes with doubt whispering, “You sure you’re built for this?” It comes with moments where you’re climbing so fast that you don’t even have time to celebrate you’re just trying to stay standing.

That’s the part people don’t talk about enough:

Still standing is a victory.

Beating the Odds Isn’t Loud:  It’s Relentless

I had to beat out the odds to still be here.

Not by luck.

Not by shortcuts.

But by staying locked in when it would’ve been easier to lay down.

Winning isn’t always about dramatic breakthroughs. Sometimes it’s about surviving the days that were designed to break you. Sometimes success looks like waking up tired, discouraged, uncertain and choosing discipline anyway.

That’s how you outlast the odds. You don’t argue with them.

You outwork them.

Vision Comes Before Victory

Here’s the hard truth most people avoid:

You have to see it before you can achieve it or you’ll never be it.

If you can’t picture yourself growing, winning, healing, leading, or becoming more, your actions will always betray you. Vision fuels consistency. Without it, effort feels pointless. With it, effort becomes personal.

I didn’t just want a better outcome, I believed in a better version of myself before the evidence showed up.

Control What You Can. Maximize the Rest.

I stopped wasting energy on things I couldn’t control other people’s opinions, past mistakes, timing, and noise. Instead, I locked in on what I could control:

• My effort

• My focus

• My preparation

• My response

When you maximize what’s in your hands, momentum follows. Progress speeds up when excuses slow down.

I’m Not Going Back

This isn’t about ego.

This is about evolution.

I came too far to romanticize struggle. I learned from the bottom, but I don’t live there anymore. The climb changed me. The pressure shaped me.  The setbacks trained me.

So no, I’m not going back.

I’m still standing.

Still focused.

Still dancing, even when the rhythm shifts.

Because now I know:

Every step, forward or back, was always part of the master’s choreography…