Photography by Angelina and Antonis Antoniou (@angelinaandantonis) from Unsplash
What's one good thing you've heard lately?
So often in our journey towards progress, we could feel the bumpier, more challenging parts that sway us into a place of discouragement and frustration. On the other hand, we can also get caught up in the rustle and bustle of getting to where we want to go without even stopping to enjoy the journey.
While both dispositions are not unusual in a world that seems to grow ever-challenging and a culture that expects us to churn out more, it becomes easier to overlook the good. When we ingrain this, we might accidentally embed a mindset of just coursing through without appreciating; or seeking the good.
Just as they say that without experiencing the challenges, we would never know what the thrilling feeling of overcoming them will be— we would only always see the bumpy, tricky roads without appreciating moments of smooth sailing. Just in case you had trouble answering our question at the beginning, here are a few good things we should remind ourselves of more often.
We’re capable of making an impact.
Photography by by Elia Pellegrini (@eliapelle) from Unsplash
With Serena Williams retiring from tennis this year, we can look back at her impact on the world of tennis for women and see how much she paved the way for female athletes to pursue sports however they want to approach it.
Although we're not all tennis-superstar material and our day to be featured in newspapers is yet to come, we can always remind ourselves of our capacity to impact people in whatever way we can. Think of the last time you made someone laugh or gave someone the relief of just being there. Remember the time when you've willingly extended an extra hand or worked through ways to make sure another Woman in Progress didn't have to go through the same trouble you did. No matter what and how small we deem it to be, we never know the impact it could have made on someone.
We will never start at square one. Not really.
Photography by Wolfgang Hasselmann (@wolfgang_hasselmann) from Unsplash
Feeling the brunt of going through a rut after "being so good" at consistently following a set of habits is familiar and common to us. When this happens, we think, "Oh, well, there goes all my effort." with the thought that we now have to begin at square one. Our progress doesn't get wiped out just because we took missteps.
Instead, we're offered a new lesson on the way that may be more helpful when the time comes.
Maybe a routine didn't work out because it wasn't sustainable when you go through inevitable life changes. If that's the case, we can adjust it to be more adaptable and seek more forgiving routines. When we mistakenly delete a draft we've been working on, we always have a rough idea of how to start again (even though it can be extremely frustrating!)
There's more out there than meets the eye.
Photography by Elia Pellegrini (@eliapelle) from Unsplash
With the Webb telescope showing us how big the universe is in comparison to where we are, right at this moment, we're framing it as this: there's a lot of space to grow and discover.
It excites us to learn the likeliness of how vast the universe is to our journey. What we knew before could never live up to all the potential of what we've yet to be. Imagine starting with knowing so little of the world, but we seek ways to work through it little by little, piece by piece. Eventually, we'll build it up to a picture that's just as spectacular and be just as awestruck with how we got there with the result. Specks as we may seem to the grand scheme of it all but no less valuable when we really think of it.
Remember: seeking the good on the way to your journey could bring more benefit than just thinking about it when we get to our destination. Make it a habit. Write it down when you need to and see the difference it could make to your progress.