Progress Not Perfection

I recently visited my daughter and was touched to see one of my paintings on the wall of her apartment. I was embarrassed, too. It was painted a long time ago. I paint better than that now, I said to myself. As I drove home, I realized I needed to look at the painting in a different way. At the time, it was how I painted. Yes, I’ve made progress, but I should honor the earlier effort. If nothing else, it reminds me I’ve made progress.

The lesson is one I need to practice in other areas of my life. When I recall a moment from my past, I need to resist the temptation to judge such a “work of art.” Maybe I would write it better now, handle a situation at work differently, or be a husband or father in a new way if it happened today. The key is to be compassionate to the way I “painted” back then. If I’ve made progress, then that’s something to celebrate, too.

As people, we are works in progress. If  only we could believe that - not only with our lips but in the way we look at our lives - we would find a new freedom and a new happiness, the kind that surpasses all human understanding.

“I’m not who I want to be, I’m not who I’m going to be, but, thank God, I’m not who I used to be.”

An old AA Saying