Inch By Inch

"One day a hungry Robin saw an inchworm, green as an emerald sitting on a twig. He was about to gobble him up..."

Inch by Inch was a child's book I read somewhere in the times of Lantana Elementary. I remember laying on the floor in prone position underneath a desk becoming completely engrossed in this book. As a child I had an imagination beyond compare, or so I'm told, but alas, it has drifted with me into my adulthood. 


A small green inchworm is proud of his skill at measuring anything—a robin’s tail, a flamingo’s neck, a toucan’s beak. Then one day a nightingale threatens to eat him if he cannot measure his song. At the time, my fascination stemmed from colorful pages and the heroine inchworm resurrecting from each turn of the page.  The desk over me became my own jungle, filled with animals of any kinds. The chair legs were obstacles, having my finger inch its way over and through anything that blocked it's path. The carpeted floor was the untouchable; doomed if my inchworm finger were to fail and fall amongst the worm-gobbling trenches of the forest soil.  


See, at the time, it was indeed just a story...a worm over coming life's challenges by "inching" his way through them. How simple. How complex.  I no longer use my finger as an inchworm, and the desk is not my jungle. When in reality, I as a whole, am the inchworm and life is the jungle. I think this is something we all need to remember from time to time...me especially. Slow down, take your life, day, situations, difficulties, struggles, enjoyments, memories...anything a fraction at a time...an inch at a time. In the end, things will be easier, more enjoyed, the lesson will be learned, and things will be complete. 

In the end, you won't get gobbled up by the Robin.