Always Think You Can and the Staircase to Nowhere

Back in February I wrote a list of things – goals – I wanted to achieve in 2015. One of those was to meet and chat with people who inspire me, to get to know them and learn from them and what they are doing. Following that post I received a lovely email from Jo over at Always Think You Can, who had set herself a similar goal for this year; so we arranged to meet up in her home town of Coventry for a coffee and a bit of a wander around.

This fits rather nicely into today’s BEDM topic – “share the blogging love”.

The reason I find Jo inspiring is because she has recently taken the plunge and quit her day job in order to fully commit to her dream. I won’t divulge much else because that’s for her to tell you, but I can say that I find anyone who has the confidence to give all their focus to their life’s goal incredibly inspiring.

I met Jo close to the old and new Cathedral buildings in Coventry and, after a relaxed coffee and chat about how we’d come to meet each other that day, she took me on a whistle stop tour of some of Coventry’s main sites. She was a very helpful guide – Cathedrals, churches, old walls, Tudor houses that have all been moved to one place to create a bit of a historical shopping street, sculpture, and lots more besides. She knew her stuff and explained what I was looking at, it was so nice having someone show me around, and to be able to get to know my new friend in the process.

When wandering around the ruins of Coventry’s Cathedral, bombed during the war but left standing as a monument (they have built a new Cathedral next door), I spotted the most interesting spiral staircase.

It became known to us both as “the staircase to nowhere”.

Just a handful of steps, spiralling around a central pillar, taking you a few feet into the air. Then, nothing. All gone. Nowhere to go apart from back down to floor level.

I’m sure there is something to be learnt from the staircase from nowhere. I know that Jo and I both came up with interesting object lessons for our own lives. For me the lesson was about how we should be prepared to look up, or ahead, so that we can find out as soon as possible whether we are heading to a dead end or not. Alternatively, the staircase to nowhere signifies what it feels like when we just go through the motions of life following the expected “normal” path rather than stopping, thinking, and changing things to how we would rather they were.

I’m sure there could be other lessons. What would a staircase to nowhere mean for you?

Life is all about the journey. Always think you can.

PS – If you, like Jo, think you can give me a hand with one of this years goals (or anything on my bucket list) then please get in touch. It’s good to share!