Progress not Perfection

Changing is a slow process. You have to learn the art of accepting failure while still pushing forward to the next milestone. Accepting failure is easy if you are humble. Humble people understand they are not perfect and that failure is part of who they are. They also reframe failure and see it as a legitimate part of the learning curve. I, for one, have learned more from my failures than my successes.

When I first experienced the emotional high of being able to change, I assumed I could speed up the process and get rid of all my problems overnight. I started reading virtually every self-help book on the market and really trying hard to be a new person. However, soon I had to face the fact that changing takes time. Improvements come very slowly and are often painstaking.

Today, I’m still changing, and the process is still slow, but I continue to think positive thoughts and wait for that little push from within to do something different. I have weathered some relapses and more times than I care to count crawled back to what they call in 12-step programs “the road of happy destiny.” However, I’ve never given up the notion that I am on a journey and should always be moving forward.

Most of all, I can truly say that today I am not the person I was when I started my metamorphosis twenty-one years ago, and that, God willing, I will always be pushing forward--changing. For it is by changing that I get closer to being the person God always meant for me to be.