Thursday, June 11, 2015

Progress, Not Perfection

Whenever I hear the phrase "progress, not perfection," I usually think of weight loss. I think about being on a quest for new, clean, healthy eating while dropping pounds and living by the 80/20 rule.

However, a quick Google search will show you that this phrase applies to a lot of areas in life...

... like business. Think about trying to hit it off with clients. Sometimes they'll take the bait, sometimes it's just not in the cards, but as long as you're making progress, you don't have to seal every deal you attempt.

Ha Ha! Memes!

... like music. I recently wrote a post on musical performance, and practice is a huge part of getting better (thanks, MK Obvious). When you go through pieces, you won't hit every note every time, but it's about getting better over time that teaches you the dedication and determination needed to succeed.

Oh, Mickey, you're so fine.

... even alcoholism came up on the search with "progress not perfection in recovery." I clicked the link, and the site offered some great advice:

"... it does not mean that people should not be trying to be the best they can be. The point is that perfection is too high a goal and that people should aim for something slightly less ambitious. If the individual make an honest attempt at overcoming their character flaws they will be moving closer to perfection, but it is not likely that they will ever fully complete this journey. Humans are fallible, and the only important thing is that they try their best."

But what I realized is that this phrase can be a handy thing to remember even with events out of our control. Like my injury.

I'll be honest, I've had the occasional frequent daydream that one day I'll wake up, and my body hips down will be healed forever and ever, amen. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. It's a process of healing; it's not a snap-of-the-fingers fix.

I used to get extremely upset if one day I was feeling a lot better, and then the next day was absolutely horrible. I only focused on the bad, thinking I had regressed, and I didn't take into account all of the good days - all of the times I stood up and felt less pain, all of the walks I took where the pulls and stings wouldn't be felt until much later in.

Too often I look at my life under a microscope and forget to step back and see the whole picture. I'm staring at the missing puzzle pieces instead of standing up and viewing the beautiful image that's forming.

I should be thrilled that I'm progressing and forget my unrealistic desire of waking up with a perfectly healed body all at once.

A week ago, I took a walk. Pain in my hip came on 20 minutes in and grew with the remainder of the walk. Yesterday morning, I took the same walk. I felt flares of soreness that quickly went away and stayed away. It wasn't perfect, but I'll be damned if that's not progress. And definitely worth celebrating.

4 comments:

  1. YAYAYAY!! So happy for your hip starting to feel better! You'll be back out there before you know it : )

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    1. :-D !!! You are the best! Thank you for all of your support! I WAS RELEASED FROM PT TODAY!

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  2. I'm glad you're feeling batter! Yay for being released from PT! Keep up with your exercises and you'll continue to see more and more progress.

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    1. Thank you so much! I definitely will... I cannot wait to get back out there :)

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