BY JENNIFER MADRIGAL
Progress is advancing in some way. Progress is making changes to yourself and hoping that those changes make you a better person. Progress is inspiring. Progress is hoping against all odds and actually seeing it happen. I’m progressing in life. I’m changing things, myself, my situation, my outlook, my faith, my hopes, and my dreams. I’m trying to redefine my own reality and see things for how they actually are and what they can be, not what they will never be.
I’m faithful, but not patient. Yet I am faithful that I will learn to be patient and that I will be given the opportunities to advance both my patience and my courage. Evan (Steve Carell) in the movie, Evan Almighty, said something along the lines of, “We pray for courage. But God does not make us brave; he instead gives us the opportunities to be brave, thus making us courageous”. Progress means that while I may not be there yet, I am further than I was yesterday and that I am moving forward.
While I progress another year in my life, I look back and see how far I’ve come, and that pushes me on to aspire for something greater. We should never stop progressing, aiming, hoping or dreaming to be better than we were yesterday. Life is unique, in that one must always aspire to higher levels to avoid being mediocre. This has always been a fear of mine, mediocrity. I do not want to be mediocre, I want to be extraordinary and exact a change on this world. I need to make goals, checklists, recordings, or whatever it takes to keep myself accountable to what really matters.
The best advice I can give anyone in this regard is to really, seriously, hold yourself accountable. You are responsible for your happiness, success, etc. If you don’t like the path you are on, no matter how old or young you are, no matter what your fitness level is, your education or your financial situation, change it! Make progress, even if it just means you take one step toward being where you want to be. Just remember to progress.
