Never Discourage Anyone
“Never discourage anyone who makes continual progress.”
Progress is a movement toward a goal or a further stage. What are the goals you wish to achieve? What do you consider an advancement? Do you feel that your ambition is the same for all? These are questions to consider when we set or observe goals. Goals are often treated as items to prove outwardly. It’s easy to set common goals with the intention to inspire many but the journey and its definition is always personal for the individual.
When I had my stroke at the age of thirty-five, it was common to be wished a full recovery with the function of my paralyzed left side. It was easy to believe that I would be happier and freer without my seizures, and that it could be easy to move on. It was even believed that my age would mean a quicker physical recovery and I felt pressured to pursue that illusion. A physical recovery and a continuation to prove outwardly proved to be the wrong path for me.
As goals and journeys are subjective, I could imagine being assumed a failure, but I know that my personal desire doesn’t align with what I thought was expected of me. My interest was in getting to know myself, to figure out who I am without something that was with me for twenty-four years and making sense of my life now while knowing who I was then. I wanted to get up and run around but it is more important for me to listen to my body. Admittance of all I don't know and a search to learn more is my focus for living. I’ve tried many things to test my place, and I’ve had to turn away from a lot but progress for me is learning and making connections. I don’t have anything to prove outwardly because I chose an invisible path that only I could recognize.
Overall, nobody has the right to judge another person’s journey, and nobody deserves discouragement for their efforts to grow. We are not privileged to know another’s personal goals or what they encounter on their journey, we can only know ourselves and measure our path and progress. Everyone is trying and growing in their own way and it’s best to trust and appreciate life happenings.
