The idea of forward progress has been rolling around in my head lately. Often, in our minds, we think we aren’t making progress. Or if we are, it feels like a turtle walking through a lake of peanut butter. We think if we haven’t arrived, we haven’t made any progress.
I get frustrated with myself over my lack of maturity sometimes. I let my emotions get the best of me and I am so disappointed in myself when I overreact. But honestly, I used to overreact every single day. When I compare where I am now, to where I used to be, I am encouraged. When I graduated from grad school, I lost 35 pounds. I have kept all of it off for the most part for over 10 years but I occasionally gain back 5-10 and I am so disappointed. Again, I have to remind myself of where I came from. On the days I work out and its ugly, I praise myself for pushing play anyway.
People say getting started is the hardest part. But I believe staying started is the hardest part. Often, in the beginning of anything, we are highly motivated to be successful. It’s exciting to set a goal and try to crush it. And then the soreness and the monotony set in. It’s in the valley that we lose our vision. Winning is hard, but maintaining a winning streak is even harder. We often need the most encouragement in the middle.
Today, take some time to look back and be encouraged by how far you have come. When we look back on where we truly used to be, it often provides us with encouragement to keep moving forward. The only thing that truly stops us is quitting. It’s okay to have a bad day. It’s okay to want to quit. But please don’t. Take some time to reflect on how much progress you have made. Be patient with yourself. Extend yourself some grace. Slow progress is still progress. Crawl if you have to. But do not stop. You’ve come too far to quit now…just keep crawling.
