Work in Progress

We begin our lives in ways that are beyond our control.

We are born into families, into communities, into circumstances we do not choose. We spend our lives working to make something of ourselves, to uncover what we have the potential to become. Life is a process we do not finish; we run out of time.

I was brought up to believe in results, solutions, answers. You worked as hard and as well as you could to earn the rewards of your labor. The challenge, the struggle, the hard work were about getting results.

Each accomplishment was a step toward the next one.

That is not how life works. We live lives that are beyond our control. Our lives are works in progress.

Our lives are not about arriving. There is no magical location we are striving to reach, no perfect ending we are trying to create.

Each moment is filled with potential. Our lives are filled with lessons to teach us. We appreciate our lives differently than we have before because what we have learned has changed us. We are works in progress.

We do not put our hope in arriving at the Emerald City or Easy Street, Narnia or Hogwarts. Our hope is not in pie in the sky bye and bye.

Our hope is in the ways we learn and grow each day. When I get discouraged or frustrated, I reflect on how far I have already traveled, and the fact that I am still traveling. Work is still in progress; it is not about finishing, but about working well.

Our work is not completed. There is plenty more for us to do. We are each a work in progress, doing work in progress.

How are you progressing today?

What are today’s lessons for you?

[Image by Stefano Mortellaro]