Small Steps Toward a Brighter Future

First of all, admit it.
When you saw that I had updated my blog, you had to stop and think. Does Rachel even have a blog? You had forgotten or better yet, didn’t even know about it. Truthfully, I even forget about it, which is probably rather obvious, since I never update it. However, I’ve been mulling over something for a while and I wanted to share it.

Progress

What do you think of when you hear it? Progress. Do you think improvement? Moving toward something? Advancement?

Most people see it as a large step moving forward toward a goal. What many do not realize is that progress is not always large and moving forward. Sometimes it is taking three steps back, so you can move five more ahead. Sometimes it is saying no to a relationship because it’s hindering God’s work in your life. Sometimes it is taking a job you aren’t thrilled about and using it as a stepping stone for your career. As a chef, progress sometimes means failing over and over, so you can find a new way to succeed. Progress is the step back, to move forward. Progress is the small, seemingly meaningless step toward a better future.

Progress is the small, seemingly meaningless step toward a better future.

Progress, to me, means going backwards to move forward. It includes having my fifth knee surgery in six years.  It means having a surgery that will take at least a year to fully recover from, so I can hopefully avoid future problems. In May, I had surgery to replace my meniscus and ACL, reattach my MCL, transfer cartilage, and repair several areas in the back and inside of my right knee. Progress means having a five and a half hour surgery, a leg brace locked in full extension, crutches for two and a half months, and physical therapy for six to twelve months. For me, progress is counting the weeks until being able to unlock the brace, ditching the crutches, being allowed to drive and work again. Progress is gaining an extra four degrees in flexion instead of losing it.

It comes down to your mindset. You have to change how you view moving forward. Are you focusing on what is going wrong or what you are giving up? Are you dwelling on the disappointment and discouragement of not being exactly where you want to be? This attitude is poison. It will infect every aspect of your life bringing with it discontentment and unhappiness. Instead, you should focus on the positives. Are you able to create stronger ties and networks at this job? What lessons are you learning that you can implement later on? Is this current pain leading to the ability to do what you love down the road? How can you help others with what you are learning?

Instead, you should focus on the positives.

Changing your mindset means counting your blessings, no matter how small. It takes actively looking for the silver lining of life; finding the glass half full. It includes focusing on the big picture, instead of the struggles that are in the way.

Don’t get me wrong. This is a huge struggle for me too. My physical therapist reminds me that it is a slow process and to keep my head up, more often than I want to admit. I get discouraged with how small and insignificant my progress is. When I focus on this, it just gets worse. It is a constant battle. I have been blessed with family and several close friends who continue to encourage me through this. 

Why will I make it through? Why am I able to look at my struggle for progress with hope? Because I am a child of the Author of hope. My Savior has a plan for my progress. Through the tears, the helplessness, the struggle, the failures, I know that Christ is shaping me. I cannot see the final product. All I can do is push to be all that He created me to be. This doesn’t mean tentatively testing out my progress. It means jumping in wholeheartedly, knowing that I can never fall further than His hand.

It means jumping in wholeheartedly.

Next time you are discouraged in your progress or it feels like there is no progress, remember one thing. God has given each of us a backbone, not a wishbone. Count your blessings and move forward. Don’t dwell on how long it may take. Focus on where it is taking you. Your progress, no matter how small, is changing you for a better and brighter future.

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

~Rachel