Yesterday morning, in a Facebook post by a city official about the status on one of our two bridges across the river that runs through the town that is being rebuilt this year, today was the day that the concrete was being laid on the new bridge. With that, it was closed with the hashtag followed by the word progress. Throughout the day, I have learned so much about the word progress and how it varies from person to person, including myself.

It is hard to believe that it has been over a month now that I have been completely medication adherent. That is a big piece of the pie of progress in which by me being honest and caring for myself, I can do so much more when there are so many moving pieces to my life. I am starting to see little by little the improvements that are forming in my life, a part of my life getting back on the right track.

Progress can mean different things for different people. It is not being so self-critical when you feel down and out and having a positive outlook on life. Just even knowing as challenging and frustrating life can be when we are going through the mill, it is important to remember the small things. For me that can be that I stayed up all day despite having many moving pieces to my schedule. Sometimes it can be the small things that brighten the day.

For me, it can be as simple as sustaining five red grapes so I can eat the cheese cubes that are in the cup with them. It is being able to go everywhere all day and eat in a crowded restaurant while maintaining my composure. It can be being able to remain increasingly focused on something like reading, watching a movie or just being able to relax more as time goes on.

It can also be the things when something more tragic happens that when reality hits when something can be done that you may have not thought was possible. Oftentimes when we are left to our own thinking, it can be easy to constantly be thinking about what you want instead of focusing on the here and now. You cannot make time speed up, but if you find ways to occupy that time by homing in on the skills that you know or have been taught it can have influence.

When you have so much that the world expects of you to be done, it can be difficult to focus on what is more important, but sometimes it is the little things that can add up to being continuously parts of progress and eventually you will get yourself to the quality of life that you desire you want to be.

While it may be difficult to see the progress that is being made in yourself, others can see it whether you want to agree with them or not. It is something that can be hard to fathom when it seems like you have the whole world in front of you but be proud of the small moments when those moments are achieved when you less expect it.