The First Cut of the Machete

One cool morning in our mountainous country side, I was walking with my camera in hand, following birds and butterflies. Across the road, I noticed an older man beginning to clear a small patch of land on a steep hillside. He worked with steady movements, swinging his machete to cut away brush, then pausing to rest his hand on the handle, surveying what still lay ahead.

A neighbour walking by noticed me watching and smiled. “He does this every morning,” he said. “Sometimes he plants, sometimes he prunes, sometimes he just clears a little more. But he always starts in the early morning hours.”

That word lingered: starts.

We often wait for the “perfect moment” to begin something new, whether it is a project, a dream, or a lifestyle change. We tell ourselves we need more money, more time, more knowledge, more confidence. And so we wait. Weeks pass. Months pass. In some cases, years pass. We stay anchored in place, convincing ourselves the timing is not right or the path is too steep.

The truth is, the perfect moment never really arrives. What we picture in our mind as ideal is often just an excuse in disguise.

Costa Rica has a phrase that captures this beautifully: Poco a poco se anda lejos. Little by little, you travel far. You do not need to sprint to the finish line. You only need to put one foot forward, then another, and another. The important thing is that you move.

When I first arrived here, I had a list of things I wanted to try. Learn some Spanish. Explore the jungle trails. Eat fresh mango straight from the tree. But for weeks, I told myself I needed to get settled first. I needed more time. The problem was, “more time” kept moving farther away, like the horizon. It was only when I stopped thinking about how ready I was and simply took that first step that things began to unfold. One conversation led to another. One small adventure turned into a bigger one. Before I knew it, the life I had pictured was already in motion.

You do not need to know the whole journey before you begin. You do not need certainty. What you need is to trust that the act of starting will open doors you cannot yet see.

So whatever it is you have been holding back on, take that first step today. Send the message. Open the notebook. Lace up the shoes. Step outside.

Because progress is not found in waiting for the right time. It is found in creating the right time by starting.

And you may find, just like my neighbour on the hillside, that little by little, you will get exactly where you hoped to be.