A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step — Confucius

Is there some life change you need to make or would like to make, but you just can’t seem to do it?  Do you find yourself paralyzed with fear?  Could this fear be manifesting itself in depression, anxiety, or guilt as a way of keeping you stuck?

Taking that first step in your journey toward a more meaningful and purposeful life is really the hardest step of all.  In taking that baby step, you are really saying to the universe, What I have wished for and dreamed about can in fact come true.

In order to take this first step, you have to muster up courage, self-will, and determination.  After you take that first step, trust that all the perseverance, endurance, and fortitude you’ll need to complete the rest of this journey will come to show you the way.

Please read the following true life survival story of Stephen de Bastion — who literally proved that — a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Stephen de Bastion was the grandfather of my nephew, Myles.  If you look at the bottom of my web site it reads: Hand-crafted with love by Myles de Bastion.  And, truly, Myles worked with patience, diligence, love, and kindness every step of the way to help me create this site.  (Myles’ father is my brother, Frank Sansone, an incredibly talented artist and sculptor, and so Myles is genetically doubly-blessed artistically, as you will soon learn.)

Myles de Bastion is a remarkably gifted young man, and if you google his name, you can see the extent of his talent.  He is an artist, a musician, and a photographer, not to mention a whiz at designing web sites.

He also has a cousin, Roxanne de Bastion, who is an amazing musician, songwriter, and singer, and you need only check out her MySpace page to hear her beautiful voice, and see a list of the concerts she will be performing this summer throughout Europe; or go to her web site: www.roxanne.debastion.com.

If you want to know where Myles and his cousin, Roxanne, inherited a lot of their musical talent from, please click on this BBC newscast to learn who their grandfather, Stephen de Bastion was, and then read on.  http://news.bbc.co.uk:80/2/hi/uk_news/england/7464011.stm

Stephen de Bastion was a brilliant pianist, musician, and songwriter prior to WW II, and his musical talent was well-known and recognized throughout Hungary.   Although he passed away twenty years ago, it was only last year that Myles’ mother, Julie, stumbled upon two audiotapes that her father had made which document his survival at the hands of the Nazis.

It was a heart-wrenching experience for Julie to listen to this three-hour commentary detailing her father’s rising musical career and fascinating life prior to the war, and hear him retell the harrowing account of how the Nazis deported him to Siberia and forced him to work digging ditches and trenches.  Stephen’s great need to survive and see his loved ones once again helped him find the will and the means to escape.  After narrowly escaping, in the dead of winter, he walked for three months, finally making his way back to Hungary, only to be recaptured and sent to Mauthausen concentration camp.

Again, his will to survive was so strong that he managed to escape once more, only to be recaptured and taken on a death march to another concentration camp.  Fortunately, this time he was liberated from this camp by the Americans.

One would think the tale of horror and atrocity would end here, but it didn’t.  Stephen later suffered more imprisonment at the hands of the communists in Hungary, before finally emigrating to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1947.

Stephen would never fully recover from all these devastating experiences, although he did fall in love, marry, and have children.   Even so, a dark cloud hung over their home (his wife had her own harrowing experiences with the Nazis and lost many of her family members in the Holocaust), as they could never overcome the fear that something or someone would come and harm their new family.  This fear was so all-pervasive that it was even transmitted to their children.   Julie, like many children of Holocaust survivors, has internalized many of her parents’ traumas into her own being.  Fortunately, Julie has inherited her father’s artistic inclinations and has processed many of these feelings through her art.  She has said that, “Making art is one way I can evolve and move forward.”  Julie has made a series of charcoal drawings, called Dark Journeys, which relate to her father’s remarkable survival story.

To see some of Julie’s art work go to: www.julie.debastion.com

I thank God that Stephen not only survived, but lived to tell his remarkable story.  He can rest in peace knowing that his creative legacy lives on as his gifted children and grandchildren go on blessing this world with their talent and beautiful hearts and souls.

So, in honor of this courageous man, if you’ve been thinking how hard your life is, start thinking — how good it is, and then get down on your knees and thank God for any and all the blessings bestowed upon you today — however small or great.

Then take one baby step toward the life you would like to have and watch miracles start to happen.  And if you’re so inclined — just take a great leap of faith and go after what it is your heart desires.

Please honor Stephen de Bastion’s life by using his amazing story of survival as the catalyst that jump starts you on your journey of a thousand miles.  Godspeed!

If you’re looking for a creative web designer check out Myles’ web site at: www.pixelshell.com.