“You never know what’s around the corner.  It could be everything. Or it could be nothing.  You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.” ~ Tom Hiddleston

Dear Universe,

A couple of weeks ago I was visited by two students I had last year.  We had one of those chats that feels like five minutes, but really lasts an hour.  In it, they chatted away, sharing details of their summer, their semester and the new and exciting happenings in their lives.  They were beaming with happiness.

It filled me with a real sense of joy so I had to share with them.  When they were about to leave I said:

“Look how far you’ve come.”

They looked at me, completely baffled.  They didn’t understand what I meant so I took them back to a year ago.

A year ago both these students were quiet.  They weren’t just a little reserved.  They were shy to the point that silence ruled their time in class.  They were afraid.  They were terrified to speak up—afraid they would say something wrong, afraid their writing wasn’t good enough, afraid they weren’t good enough.

Now, here they were a year later, out of their shells, smiles shining bright, spirits shining brighter.

They had transformed from caterpillars—a little too cozy in their cocoons—to beautiful, confident, social, successful butterflies.

It took little steps.  I pushed them, but really they pushed themselves.  They wanted to grow, and so they did.

But as is typical, we don’t always notice a change in ourselves or our circumstances or surroundings until someone reveals it to us.

Once I pointed out to my students the changes I saw in them, they acknowledged them too.  They were genuinely happy to see how much they’d grown in a year.

Earlier this week, this same message of looking back to see how far I’d come, was given to me.  And just like my students, I didn’t understand it at first.

But then I thought about it and of course I can clearly see the changes in my life.  Reflecting on the changes made me even more grateful for the present.

We so often think of each day being similar to the last and that tomorrow will be more of the same.

But that’s not always true.

Each day has something in it that will never be repeated again.  (Tweet that!)

It may be a conversation with a friend or making a memory with a loved one.  It could be a moment that surprises you or one that changes your life.  But little by little life is lived and life is revealed.  Lessons are learned.  Progress occurs, decisions are made and change happens.

You may not notice this, though or give much thought to it until someone asks you to stop and:

“Look how far you’ve come.”

Much Gratitude,

A