Progress

            When I was a young lass of a mere four years old, my father owned a large herd of sheep.  Every winter, he would keep his herd in Cedar Valley, in particular, on the western side of the valley.  My fondest memories of the Cedar Valley range are of me grumbling about the lack of radio reception and the lack of anything around.  I felt like my parents had brought me to the middle of nowhere to deal with sheep.  Cedar Valley in the late 1980’s was a desolate range, littered with my dad’s sheep.  Fast forward to 2025 and the same winter range is now a thriving and bustling community. 

            Progress.  Progress is often spoken of with underlying tones of negativity.  With progress comes more traffic, less nature, more construction.  I certainly don’t remember any traffic jams at the sheep herd, except for maybe  a line of sheep at the trough.  I don’t think progress is a bad thing.  Traffic sucks, but the roads are much nicer than they used to be (they used to be dirt roads around the valley).  Construction can be frustrating, but the final product is always something amazing.  And as far as less nature goes, well, we are very lucky to be surrounded by nature in our beautiful state.  In all honesty, I don’t miss the sheep herd.  I was too little to really with help any of it.  My four year old brain felt like Cedar Valley was located at the ends of the Earth.  Now, thanks to the expertly paved roads, it takes a matter of minutes to travel from one end of Cedar Valley to the other, even with traffic.

            Progress can take place on a more personal level.  Any time you progress as a human being, it is a good thing.  Whether that be physical, mental, emotional, or even spiritual progress,  So often we use the word ‘growth’ interchangeably with progress.  Growth is a good thing. It can be very hard to accomplish.  Extremely hard, galactically hard. But don’t they say anything worth doing is hard?  Whether you are trying to progress with a physical goal, or a mental goal, or even emotional or spiritual, the key to progress is the pace.  Rome, or rather, Cedar Valley, wasn’t built in a day and neither can you ‘build’ yourself in a day.  Steady, consistent work towards your goal will get you where you want to be.  Progress is a sneaky thing too.  You can struggle every day for what seems like an eternity to achieve your goal and then one random day, boom!  You did it! 

            I really do like the word ‘growth’ better.  When someone says to me, “look how you’ve grown!” like I’m a plant, I feel good.  Really.  But I like plants.  However, if someone says to me, “look how you’ve progressed!” my defenses go up.  What was wrong with me before?  Was I behind?  Who or what am I behind?  So if you see me, please tell me I’ve grown, and hand me a glass of water because, much like a plant, I probably need it.  In all seriousness, the opposite of progress is stagnation.  Never changing, never moving, never growing.  Much like taking a sip of stagnant water, stagnation can ruin your day.  Pick a goal for yourself, you don’t even have to tell anyone about it, or do if you want, and start working towards it.  Give yourself time.  Progress takes time.  And remember, progress is sneaky.  One day you are traveling down a dusty road to see a bunch of sheep and then within a few years, you are heading down the same road to go to a monster truck rally.  Life is strange like that.  Work on yourself.  Even though you are already amazing, pick something and grow it.  Progress it.  Embrace the steady work for that growth and see what you can accomplish.  When you find yourself stagnating in life (it happens to the best of us), step out of the same routine and start down the road to growth.  

Enjoy life on the winter range of the old sheep herd and embrace your very own progress.

Photo by Andrea Lightfoot on Unsplash