Kate’s 2018 Reflection

written by Kate H.

Progress is never shown by a straight line. As I look back on 2018, this is one of the biggest lessons I learned.Throughout the year, I was putting this pressure on myself to always be better. But when I faced a set-back, this mentality only resulted in my disappointment. I realized it is important to push myself to be better but to also must be lenient with my expectations and recognize that even setbacks can move me closer to my goals. As long as I am trying my best, the outcome should not matter.

That phrase is so easy to say but much harder to live out. We all get caught up in the pressure to be successful and to live a perfect life that regardless of our effort we think we must reach our end goal. In addition to this pressure, we have an unrealistic image in our heads of what it means to achieve such a lifestyle. We think we must be nice all the time, always be happy, make a lot of money, work hard everyday, yet somehow relax too. Setting these expectations would mean that it is not okay to have an off day, you can never be sad, you must always be in pursuit of profit and relaxing is not allowed. This is just unreasonable! Life is about finding what “balance” means to you. If you need to rest, rest. If you need to cry, cry. If you want to enjoy a night out, spend the money. Life cannot be a constant sprint to get everything done, especially if it is at the expense of your well-being.

You can think about life as a maze, for example. If you go down the wrong path, you HAVE to turn around and go backwards in order to ultimately progress forward through the maze. You are going to run into some dead-ends and you will experience moments of frustration, anger, or even sadness. However, if you keep going you will eventually make it closer and closer to the end. This analogy shows that not only is it okay to not always be on the right path, but it is necessary to mess up, pause, recollect yourself and try new ways to reach your desired goal. Whatever you may want from life you can get it with patience, persistence and understanding that progress is not represented through a straight line.