Trust the Process

I was talking with a friend recently about my habit of picking things up but not finishing them. I'm getting better at it as I get older, and I can recognize the pattern and discipline myself to complete things, but the habit is there. There are times I will have an idea for a project and not even start it because I'm afraid I won't follow through to the end. So to avoid that feeling of defeat when I look at or think of that unfinished project I simply don't start it at all. Which is a shame because I enjoy the process so much.

That reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend years ago about knitting. I recall asking her if she knit because she enjoyed seeing the completed project, or if she knit because she simply enjoyed the process of creating. I had noticed there were a couple of projects on the go and she would pick up one or the other when there was time for it. Her response was that she enjoyed the process and then she turned the question around and asked me the same. I don't know why I ask these things if I don't want to answer them myself... lol. But it made me think that, perhaps, my endless starting of things is that they're fun and interesting and I learn something from it but then the finished product can be critiqued. And I don't enjoy the scrutiny.

How many times do we give up before we've started? Admit defeat before we've engaged in the battle? What would history look like if everyone did that?

I challenge you to take the step to start the thing that's keeping you from living your fullest life. Even if the thing is started, put down for a bit, picked up for a bit, put down for a bit, picked up... you get the drift. It might never be completed. Or you might one day stop and look back and think “Good heavens, I did it.” Either way, the practice of doing, learning, and taking those steps is never wasted. It's all experiences that we can learn from.

In the end, it's our experience and our relationships that make us unique.