You’re a Work In Progress, Own It

Embrace The Present and Why Where You Are Now Still Matters

Start Where You Are

Close your eyes and imagine this: You’re on your way to work when the route you usually take is under construction.

Immediately, you start to complain about the extra five minutes stuck in traffic or the detour you have to take.

While minor changes can negatively influence the mood for the day, think about this: the inconveniencing construction fills the potholes that have been wearing away at your tires each day.

Just like construction, you are a work in progress.

No, you do not have literal potholes on your body, but you likely have felt like a piece of you is missing or run down at some point.

In these moments, filled with frustration and inconvenience, we see the most growth, so why do we eagerly rush to the finished product?

Notice The Other Potholes

Maybe it’s because we live in a world where perfection is the expectation.

Take one of the biggest social media sites — Instagram, for example. Instagram has become the place where we put our lives on display; we select pictures that will get the most attention or likes.

We make our lives seem marvelous, filled with adventure, and show off our perfect bodies, relationships, and successes.

“If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter – for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.”

– Sylvia Path

Because you’re human, you look at these pictures and immediately start to compare your life to the one on the screen.

But while you’re letting an image brings you down, what you’re failing to realize is that the person who posted that picture has “potholes” in their life too.

Maybe they struggled with body image, and this is the first time they like their appearance; maybe after going through a toxic relationship, that person finally found a loving, stable partner; perhaps their home life is unhealthy, so they travel to escape their reality; maybe they feel alone, and the likes and comments on their picture make them feel a little more loved.

There’s no point in comparing your journey to someone else’s because they aren’t you.

You Are a Work In Progress, Own It. 

You are constantly changing, even in the smallest of ways, to reach your fullest potential.

Learn to be:

• Proud of your small victories, even if that is getting out of bed on a day where you want to be closed off from the world; the sum of those victories gets you one step closer to your finish line.
• To accept that you may not be where you thought you’d be at this point because, more often than not, setbacks are setups for more considerable successes.
• Also to remember how far you’ve come despite any adversity you’ve encountered. Understand that being a work in progress does not make you weak; in reality, it makes you stronger for what is to come.

Take-Home

So the next time you feel depleted by the period of growth you’re in, consider this: roads do not develop in a day, so why do we expect our changes to be any different?