Stop. Exhale. Celebrate progress.
You might not notice you’ve made progress if you don’t stop and exhale.
If you blink, you might miss it. Oops, you made progress. Exhale. Celebrate.
This is not birth of your child, sale of your company, news of a new job. This is celebrating along the way. This the little stuff. These are the little steps along the way that make up the entire journey. This is the:
- Envelope into the mailbox. Sent!
- Hanging up the phone after the call you were dreading.
- Getting the temporary residency permit that just about seals the legal status deal.
The fireworks are in the winning, the gold medal, the baby born. But the joy comes from the path, the steps, the work, the way there.
What can you celebrate? What progress have you made? You have made progress, even if it was thinking about the next step. It’s there, you might have to dig for it.
I just walked out of the immigration office with my temporary residence permit that I’ve been preparing for over the past months. I have a beautiful 3D hologram and an embossed stamp all on a colorful sticker in my passport.
Is this my gold medal? Is this my new baby born? No, this is a step along the way. But it also means I can start. It means I don’t have to stop*, it is another notch on the ladder towards the goal. But I have to say at this point that what possible further joy could the end destination provide if a single notch in the ladder gives me so much that I can barely contain it?
Celebrate progress. Each step means you get to go further.
- Acknowledged
- Celebrated
Now let’s get going further.
* As if anything could stop me.