Evolving Life

You Are A Work In Progress

MERLENE CAMPBELL Season 1 Episode 22

As we become the adults we are, our lives reshape because of the ebbs and flows that happen throughout our lives. Those same events that we sometime consider burdensome or insurmountable are the opportunities that define us. As we expand, we grow and become stronger than we ever thought possible. 

So let me restate, you are a work in progress. 

In this episode, I want to empower you to believe in you. I want to empower you to see the good in the bad, and know that it’s only a page in the book of your life. I want to help anyone who feels as if life is hard, who often says “I am tired”, or “I am sick and tired.” Or even “I will never succeed,” start believing and saying, “I can do this.”

This episode is all about empowerment. About sharing with you how to get beyond the mind space that’s keeping you from trying, from realizing that your time will come. You just have to keep going.

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At what point do you realize the moments, the bad ones, don’t define you? At what point do you wake up, look in the mirror and say “I am capable,” or “I am a survivor and I will survive.” Or, this moment of feeling as if I’ve failed, doesn’t make you a failure?

Episode Highlights

  • See the good in the bad and know that it's only a page in the book that is your life.
  • So many of us focus on the bad that happening in our lives that we neglect to notice the things that are good.
  • It's up to each of us to find the positives.
  • Everything you need to keep going, to not give up, is within you.
  • What is it you need to know, to do, to move forward?
  • Stop believing everything is going right for everyone but you.
  • Sometimes our breakthrough moment happens when nothing goes according to plan.


You are a work in progress. Few of us realize this, especially when feeling desolate, or as if nothing is going according to plan. It’s unfortunate because as our lives change and we evolve, we will experience highs and lows. It's important that in those moments we remember we evolve, we change, and, as our lives reshape those events that we sometime consider burdensome or insurmountable are the opportunities that define us. They help us grow and expand, to become stronger than we ever thought possible.

I have a few questions I want to present to you for you to consider the answers to: At what point do you realize that the moments, the bad ones, don’t define you? At what point do you wake up, look in the mirror and say “I am capable,” or “I am a survivor and I will survive.” Or, this moment of feeling as if I’ve failed, doesn’t make you a failure?

There’s no denying sometimes the difficulties that life throws at you can be unbearable, and seeing the good is hard. Telling someone who feels like shit about whatever, that it could be worse, or pointing out their accomplishments sometimes just doesn’t work. They don’t want to, or are unwilling to hear it when you say look at it another way. Somewhere, someone is experiencing worse.

Knowing You Are A Work In Progress And Believing It Requires Acknowledging A Few Things


Realize That You are capable

You can look at this a few ways. The simple way: Everything you need to keep going, to not give up, is within you. You just have to believe. The more complicated way to consider how capable you are? The thought that god would never give you more to handle than you can handle. If you are spiritual, this may resonate with you.

Here is a reality to remember that may help. Those successful people who inspire you, that you emulate, do not differ from you. They also have moments of overwhelm, of feeling as if nothing works out as planned. What you should also take from their success is that they are not different from you, therefore if they can overcome moments of despondency, then you certainly can too.

Everything, and I mean everything that happens in life, is a learning experience

Here is the ideal circumstance when something in your life gives you a moment to pause and you feel defeated. That you acknowledge the moment, that you think introspectively and ask yourself a key question:

What is the lesson here? What is it you need to do or know to move forward?

Whether it’s feeling as if you are not getting anywhere with your efforts, or if it’s a setback. Ask yourself this one question in whatever way you want to word it.


You don’t want to deal with the feelings of regret

As a fan of Anthony Robbins, I would be remiss if I did not mention his method of dealing with anxiety and regret. Here is his method:

Take a moment and imagine yourself at 85 years old. You’re in your rocking chair, reflecting on how you’ve lived. Imagine your life if you did whatever it is that makes you anxious or fearful; maybe it’s changing careers, learning to fly a helicopter or taking a trip somewhere new. How do you feel? What’s your life been like because of the decision?–Tony Robbins.

Now put yourself in that rocking chair. Reflect on your decisions, your choices. Pretend that as much as you feel like giving up right now, what you would feel a year from now, five years from now. Even just a month from how. Get off that couch, stop feeling sorry for yourself, stop believing everything is going right for everyone but you, and choose to not have to live with regret down the road.

Recognizing your Breakthrough Moments

Sometimes our breakthrough moments happen when nothing goes according to plan; we all experience them. You know the scenario: We want or expect things to go a certain way, but that’s the last thing to happen. Instead of things going the way you expect, things become a little crazed. If we dwell on it for a moment, we could probably identify many of those instances.

What would happen if we remove the anxiety from those moments and replace them with calm and assurance? If we view the unexpected as perhaps the path we need to follow. If you follow that path, just to see what happens. To see what you can learn. Think of this option as choosing to acknowledge, as well as embrace, your life’s journey. When you embrace what life offers, that is also when you grow.

A Proactive Approach

It’s about how you deal with the unexpected moments. As hard as it is to fathom, life is not on a mission to make your existence miserable. I know, it’s so much easier to say “Life Sucks.” What if we chose instead to say “I Am Worthy?” In reality, we are all worthy. It doesn’t matter what we are experiencing or how debilitating or lost we sometimes feel. Life is worth every moment in which we stand, acknowledge, and proceed with absolute calm and certainty.

To Summarize

When you realize the true obstacle is how to grow from the experiences, that is when you see your life as a work in progress. When you can take what life offers. And not let anything shrink you into a grain of sand. That's when you realize you are a work in progress.


Resources & Action

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