I am grateful for the people in my life who choose to be transparent. I received an email from someone who I follow who shared a laundry list of things that they had tried over the years getting to their thing. There were close to 20 different titles in a 14 year period for which they were called over the years before landing where they are today. They shared it to encourage someone to know that starting was more important than where you landed.
I was so encouraged by their transparency because sometimes I want to run in the opposite direction of my progress. Sometimes it feels like I am just spinning my wheels going nowhere and it’s a waste of time trying to do something different. Anyone else?
You have tried thing number 7 and it doesn’t feel like it’s a good fit. You feel embarrassed because here you are trying something else in front of everyone again. You want to run and hide but something keeps calling you back out to keep going. It’s your inner cheerleader. It’s just loud enough to tell you to get up and try again.
So we get up and try again. We choose to start over again. We block out the noise from the outsiders who try to tell us that we are unfocused, unproductive, and uncommitted. We shut down the noise from the inside that tells us that we are not enough, unworthy, and do not belong here.
We replace all the noise with things that are true, lovely, and of good report (ref. Phil 4:8). We say to ourselves that we are smart, focused, and productive. Then we tell ourselves that we are worthy, we are enough and we belong here. We keep moving forward because we accept that the journey is what’s important.
Arriving at our destination is great but the journey along the way is what helps us to arrive. Most people are not like my former coworker who knew from a young age that she wanted to be a pediatrician and actually did it. That was a gift. Some of us have to try a few things before we get there and it doesn’t matter how many.
Stop judging your journey. Stop comparing your journey to others. Most importantly, extend yourself some grace. The 2011 version of you did not have the wisdom, experience, or knowledge that the 2021 version of you has. You made a decision based on what you knew in that moment. Cut yourself some slack and celebrate where you are today.
I’m all over the place today but I hope that you get the point. Start over as many times as you need to. Don’t judge it. Just keep going.
What are you working on and how many times have you almost quit? Let’s chat.
Just Another Day's Journey 