The Stair Case Principle by Deji Onadeko

A few days ago, I had something to do at my faculty and for some reasons, I had to go to and fro the staircase, up to the second floor and back for at least eight times that day. So for the first few times when I climbed, I climbed in a hurry, I sort of wanted to be quick and get the stress of the stairs over with as quickly as I could, so I’ll rush up the stairs, jumping one or two steps and then finally reach my destination, sweating and panting for some air. I’ll then need a few seconds to catch my breath and dry my sweat so I don’t go into my HOD’s office looking like a sorry case. This is normally how I climb a staircase though, in a hurry...

So at some point, as I came up that stairs again, I decided to do something differently this time, I decided to go one step at a time. I didn’t have to drag on each step but I didn’t have to rush up more than one step either. Well, I got up a few seconds later than usual but I used less energy and I still had my cool at the end of the flight. So this time, no need to catch my breath or wipe my sweat.

Then I thought to myself, this has to be a better way to climb through the stairs, one step at a time, not sluggishly, but not mumbling steps together. I realized that no matter how many steps I skipped, it didn’t make me anymore than twenty seconds earlier.

Well I wanted to be sure, so I checked up some facts on Google and what I saw had a striking resemblance with my opinion. I found out that the double step strategy required a greater activity for propulsion during stance for the ankle and knee extensors, the double or more steps strategy has a higher muscle activity and metabolic cost. In English, if you are not trying to burn some fat and calories and your aim is to arrive at top flight still cool, a step per-time is best.

So well… I just established the stair case principle, so now, let’s make the above long story count.

Life of cause can be likened to a stair case and every man is taking each step as he wills, making mental and physical decisions, and rigorous ones at that, so as to be reckoned with as to have reached the top. The top can be in his career, finances, academics, spiritual life, etc. whichever and whatever it is, everybody aims for the very peak.

Little wonder we hear idioms and clichés like, “be kind to the people you meet on your way up, cause you might need them on your way down.” Or “meet me at the top, it’s less crowded up there.” So basically, there’s a consciousness of a top to be reached.

But then, like me and that staircase, some are too much in a hurry, trying to skip steps to make it a few seconds earlier than usual, so they make it to every landing tired and used up. The good thing about the staircase is, no matter how tired you get, it’s just a staircase, and you’ll reach your destination anyway. But in a real life situation, you may have used up too much energy, skimming and rushing, leaving nothing for the rest of the trip, only successfully making it half way.

Jordin Sparks in her popular hit song, one step at a time, says “Just one step at a time, there’s no need to rush, it’s like learning to fly or falling in love, it’s gonna happen, when it’s supposed to happen and we find the reasons why, one step at a time.”

So for those of you who can’t wait to bag your hero medal, hurrying past life, forgetting to love and play, stepping on toes in the name of determination, you will only fall as fast as your rose, ending up too tired and frustrated to think or even live. Finally wasting away in obscurity and regret while the man who learnt this principle early enough strolls past you and again, you regret how much you can’t even regret enough.

What sorts of slows down the trip of life is love and selflessness towards friends and family, stopping by to help another, but then, the irony is, it grants you speed when the time is just right.

So in all friends, don’t be too much in a hurry to make a head start, don’t skim or step on toes or forget to show love to friends, family and even strangers with the excuse of being too busy with work, just like me on that stair case, you may just loose too much energy to even keep up.

Thank You.