Progress is a process

I just saw a wonderful cartoon on Facebook. It showed a series of eight steps with a little cartoon figure going up each step.

On the first step, the little person was actually sitting down, saying, "I won't do it." And ditto on the second step—sitting down, but this time saying, "I can't do it."

Progress occurs by the third step! The little person is standing up, saying, "I want to do it." By the fourth step, the figure is still standing there, now asking, "How do I do it?"

OK, now we're getting somewhere. So on step no. 5, the figure begins to climb and says, "I'll try to do it." And by the sixth step, the little figure says, "I can do it." So now we're up to step no. 7 where the figure is taking a big step, saying, "I will do it." And finally at the eighth step (the top), the little person is jumping up with a heel click and saying, "Yes, I did it!"

The question at the bottom of the cartoon is: "Which step have you reached today?" It's such a great visual to show the different steps and attitudes when we want to move ahead on something—and I'm sure each of us can resonate with each step, having spent some time on each of them. I would hope you also know the wonderful feeling of getting to that top one and celebrating with "Yes, I did it!" Doesn't that feel great?

What's facing you today? A project? A dream waiting to be reached? A fear to be faced? And which step are you on? Are you ready to take that next step? Come on, you can do it. You will do it. Soon you can say, "Yes, I did it!"