Progress Takes Effort

When I first started with my therapist I told her I was SCARED that she would push me to do something I wasn’t comfortable with. She assured me that she wouldn’t, and if we set a goal I wasn’t comfortable with, then we would talk about it. I think she understood if she were to push me too hard, I would stop coming.

On Friday, with our session time almost up, my therapist smiled at me and said, “Do you remember when you first started to come here? You talked about all of your fears and what you couldn’t do. Today you are talking about all of your accomplishments.”

She was right, I had made huge strides over the past 7 months. I believe I accomplished this by taking baby steps. Really, tiny baby steps. The smallest steps forward have led to bigger and bigger steps.

Noticing her grin, I also realized that it wasn’t my therapist taking credit for this. In fact, I WAS DOING THIS. I think anyone trying to obtain a goal should realize, is when you seek out help and accept help, you are still the one doing all the work. Like building some complicated piece of IKEA furniture, there are directions and YouTube videos to refer to, or maybe a friend to help you out, but you are building it. You are the one doing the growth.

Effort takes movement. Rather it be as small as reading up on literature that pertains to your goals or getting out the door and pushing your limits, the effort must take place. I found that small steps, even some that were hardly noticeable, have been the forefront of my triumph.

Just like that IKEA piece of furniture, it has 1,001 parts, and you have to start with step 1.

A final note, I have come to realize that being in a career that isn’t satisfying to you, can cause a lot of stress. I think a lot of my issues had steamed from not feeling complete or a sense of belonging in the field I was in. Being out of that field for over a year now, I feel a lot lighter.