Forward Is a Pace

When progress feels slow, remember: showing up counts.

Felt pretty challenged to write a post this week.

Some ideas came to me during the week, and I was excited about them at first. I even started a few, but they’re only half-formed. Others are partially shaped, but I can’t seem to find the energy to do any of them justice. So instead of forcing it, I decided to write about the fact that I can’t seem to write.

Truth is, I’m feeling a little stuck myself.

Not really sure why. January can be an interesting month. The Christmas lights come down, and everything feels a little darker. The whole year stretches out in front of us, which can be exciting but also a little daunting. So is that it?

I didn’t sleep as well this week as I did last week. So is that it?

Work week was a little crazy and stressful. So is that it?

Let’s be honest. I don’t know, and probably never will. But that’s okay. Most likely, it will turn itself around by next weekend. No matter what, I have faith that it will turn.

It’s like when you spend all day thinking it’s Tuesday, only to realize it’s Wednesday. A little disorienting and frustrating. But then you wake up the next day, and you’re back on track. If you think about it, we don’t know what we did to reset ourselves but we do.

I’ve spent most of my life trusting the process and telling others to trust the process. On the days you don’t want to, those are the days you show up. Even if it’s messy.

Trusting the process means that sometime we need to do hard things and trust that we can do them and embrace that challenge with energy and passion.

Other times, it means that we just need to show up and do what we can on that day.

In athletics, I told myself that I will always give 100% of what I have that day. Acknowledge the fact that I will not always be at 100% but I can give 100% of what I have that day.

So, here I am giving a 100% of what I currently have.

In everything we do, sometimes we sprint, sometimes we jog, sometimes we walk and sometimes we crawl. The trick is to keep moving, pausing and giving ourselves grace along the way but finding a way to keep moving.

Always remember that forward is a pace.

I can’t tell you how many times I have said that to myself or told that to someone, “Forward is a pace” and they have nodded their head and said, “yep, you are right”.

So, I’m going to trust that I’ll reset. And maybe next week the post will be longer, more inspirational, or more insightful. But today, this is where I’m at and that’s okay.

Forward!