I am learning how to jump rope again.

I am on the substitute teaching list for my local school district.  Last year, a person would call and ask about my availability. I would have a chance to get to my online schedule and look up whether I could work a particular day or not.  Now it is all automated.  Which, I guess, for the district is great, however, for me it is a hurdle.  I don’t have any time (or a least not much) to get to my calendar before it gets to the next prompt asking me the next question.  As I listened to the phone ring this morning at 5:34am I realized this process is like learning how to jump rope again.  You remember when you were young and you would have to practice watching the rope go round and round.  You’d get a rhythm that you could sense when you could jump in or not.  You would watch, study, judge, and ultimately practice. But as a child you don’t have all the hang-ups as an adult.  You don’t care what your friends think, if you miss you keep trying, and you enjoy the learning process (for the most part).  These things that others can just do without thinking because it is all rote behavior, I have to relearn how to do. I am intimidated by the phone, the electronic prompts, the questions, and ultimately hoping I press the right number on the phone.  I have all the trappings of an adult, in that life and experience cause me to be very cautious instead of free. I stare at the jump rope moving in its rhythmic pattern and think: I could trip, miss, fall, or get thwacked in the head by a rope. I think you get the picture.  Things that used to just come naturally now are a new learning experience.  I just have to void my head of fear and go on the knowledge that each step I take, rope I jump, call I deal with, moves me forward in this new life of low vision.  As I have heard many times before, any mountain can be climbed or obstacles overcome by simply putting one foot in front of the other. No matter how small the steps are, you will get there.