Progress

This idea has been on my mind Christmas. I watched the Santa Claus is Coming to Town Christmas Special and heard the song, “Put One Foot in Front of the Other.” I thought: life is a lot like this song. When things are hard, or we feel stuck, we have to move forward. Progress. Put one foot in front of the other. Here’s the song if you’ve never heard it: Put One Foot in Front of the Other – Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Lyrics) [4K HD] – YouTube 

In the song, the warlock captures Kris Kringle because he’s decided he’s bad, and he can’t change. Kris tells him changing is not difficult; it’s as easy as taking your first step. The truth is, progression isn’t easy. In fact, for most of us, it’s extremely difficult. 

The point of progress is to always be striving to move forward—to a destination—no matter what the destination is. Progress means to progress. Even if it’s slow, as long as you’re moving forward, that’s what matters. I’ve had to repeat that phrase to myself a lot: progress=progress. As the proverb says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”–this is often attributed to Confucius, but it actually came from his teacher, Laozi. No matter who said it, the proverb teaches humans the longest and most difficult journeys begin with one step. A single decision to move forward. Philosopher Khalil Gilbran taught, “progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.” Bettering what we are is not necessarily easy, but progressing to what we can be is a worthwhile goal, and will help us be a more complete and happier person. 

Often the hardest thing in life is to decide to make that first step. I know, I have been there. I will admit almost every step of progress in my dissertation was a choice to press forward. It was a process that seemed the progress would never end. If I hadn’t chosen to progress, I wouldn’t have finished. I did to choose to take each and every step, even when some steps didn’t always lead me in the path I wanted them to or expected them to. Those mini steps made the large goal possible/happen, and I am a PhD. These smaller steps also made the destination less overwhelming.  

We have to make a choice to change to progress because growth (another word for progress) is impossible if we don’t change. If you can’t change your mind, you won’t change anything. Yet, it’s important to recognize that not all change is progress. While it’s often difficult to discern the differences, only you can know if change is effective in your progress. Does the change hinder or help you? 

One of my favorite songs is called “Some People Change” by Kenny Chesney. The message was so important, Montgomery Gentry recorded their own version of the song. The lyrics say: “Here’s to the strong / Thanks to the brave/ Don’t give up hope…Against all odds / against the grain / Love finds a way /Some people change” (Montgomery Gentry – Some People Change (Video) – YouTube 

To make change, and therefore progress, we have to be strong, brave, have hope, and sometimes we have to do things that others don’t like.  Often, we have to do things we don’t want to, or are difficult. The reward is so great after the struggle. Frederick Douglass said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” 

There is progress in every aspect of our lives—or there should be (business, finance, faith, etc.) 

When I was in Young Women (part of my past Mormon life). According to the program’s description: The purpose of the Young Women organization is to help each young woman “be worthy to make and keep sacred covenants and receive the ordinances of the temple.” This program is an integral part of youth activities for all young women between 12-18. (It was altered in 2019). As part of the program each young woman participates in Personal Progress. Personal Progress was focused around the eight topics or values of the Young Women program. These values are: faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity and virtue—virtue was added after I graduated. These values represented church morals and each had an associated color in the program.  Each value has a series of value experiences and one value project which required 10 or more hours of preparation and delivery. Progress is recorded in a handbook by program leaders or the young woman’s parents. To complete the program, the young woman must have seven completed value experiences and a project in each topic, verified by the leaders or parents.  Completion of the program required an interview with the local church leadership, and was ultimately recognized by the Young Womanhood Recognition Award, a simple gold- or silver-colored medallion.

I did this twice. Once when I was a young woman, and a second time when I was a leader of young women. I remember not being a fan of doing the projects—choosing easier ways to accomplish the goals. Even when I completed them as an adult. Remember progress is supposed to be difficult. I will admit 75% of the time my heart wasn’t in it.  

While the idea behind the program had good intentions, completing the goals often felt forced or coerced. While I may have become a better person along my personal progress journey, I don’t really feel like I changed and grew that much because of it. I did get several pieces of jewelry I have never worn.

The thing about personal progress is just that—it’s personal. Progress doesn’t come from a cookie-cutter manual that tells a person how they should behave. Personal progress comes from hard work, healing, and figuring yourself out. I did not know who I was and who I wanted to be at 12, or even at 18. Sometimes I wonder if I know who I want to be now because I feel like the person I want to be is always changing. I have learned about the person I want to be through healing and growth. I have tried new ways to grow. I am always reading and making goals to make myself a better person. I have talked to a life coach to help me deal with anxieties. I have meditated—and boy, do I suck at meditation. My mind doesn’t like to be still and quiet, so my life coach taught me different ways to use my body to meditate. I have learned about my chakras, and how to balance them. I light incense when I need to calm my nerves—a process I am slowly learning what I like, and what works for me. Sage is a big no-no, but I really love the smell of burnt eucalyptus. I have chakra cards I keep on my nightstand, so if I need a reminder, I just pick up a card and read it. At first, all this was uncomfortable because it was different from anything I had ever done, but if we don’t stretch our minds/experiences, how can we know what we like, and what we don’t? 

I really like this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson about progress; he said, “All our progress is an unfolding, like the vegetable bud. You have first an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowledge, as the plant has root, bud, and fruit. Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.” I am slowly and surely learning to trust my intuition. For me, this has been the hardest part of my personal progression. As a thinker, I can always think of logical reasons against my intuition. I can think myself out of anything my gut tells me—it’s why I have always been a doubter, a questioner. I have also learned how important my intuition is. How that same intuition has helped me survive life, while I have just moved through life not paying attention. I am learning to pay attention and listen and follow that intuition because it often leads me where I am intended to be. If I don’t listen to my intuition, I will often end up in the right place, but it may take a lot of pain and heartache to get there. If I listen better, I will end up where I need to go a lot sooner, better even. 

I am not perfect. I will never be. The point of progress is not to be perfect. No one, not even Mary Poppins, is perfect. I am a work in progress. We all are. It’s up to us to put the work in and choose to make the progress we need to. Every day is a choice for me. I could live as I have always lived, or I can choose to be different, and I can choose to be better. It’s important to remember that as others are striving for progress, we should support them. We need to be kind to ourselves on our journeys. We will make mistakes. We shouldn’t give up. We shouldn’t keep doing down that wrong path. As C.S. Lewis said, “Progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turn, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.” Winston Churchill echoed this idea, “Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.” Find the glory in the climb—in the pain and hurt that helps make you a better person each day. It’s so worth it. After all, it’s only a mountain. 

My theme song a couple years ago was “The Mountain” by Dierks Bentley. In the song he sings, “Even though I had my doubts, told myself don’t look down / And I turned that hill into a pile of gravel / It was only a mountain, nothing but a big old rock / Only a mountain, it ain’t hard if you don’t stop / It just took a little step, a right then a left / Then a couple million more, who’s counting? / Yeah, that’s only a mountain / Well you better know the bottom if you wanna be a climber / ‘Cause there’s always another one a little bit higher” (Dierks Bentley – The Mountain (Official Audio) 

It reminds me every day I need to climb the mountain because after all the mountain is progress, and it’s only a mountain—a big old rock. As I climb my mountain, you can climb yours, and we can cheer each other along.  

My friend Rachael recently posted this on her Instagram page, and I thought it was a great reminder, so I took a screen shot.