I caught a glimpse of my reflection in my laptop today and I was struck by how much I have changed. Allow me to explain: We spend soo much time looking at where we’d like to be, we seldom stop to assess how far we’ve come. And I am so different than I used to be.
It’s not just my hair and my style of dress, although those things are quite different now too, but I am different. I see the world differently than even two years ago. How I move through the world feels different. I feel like a totally different person than, say, even one year ago.
I often feel like I’m standing still, but I believe that comes from looking at what you’re not experiencing but would like to vs. how you’ve grown from what you’ve already experienced. It feels good to be able to look back over my shoulder and see progress vs. all the times I’ve stumbled and fallen. Don’t get me wrong, those are counted as part of the progress, but they’re no longer the focus, just a part of the fabric that makes it up.
To be honest, I feel proud of the progress I’ve made and I feel a sense of satisfaction about it. My path was definitely not straight; it was chock full of twists and turns I never saw coming, but I kept going, and going, and going … and will keep going. I like that I am persistent, if nothing else. And that I have some perspective on top of it all. It’s important to measure your own progress. And not against someone else, but vs. yourself. You are your own best measuring stick and when you look in the mirror, the only competition you have is … YOU.
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