Measure in Small Steps - August 29, 2021

I will never forget what one of my professors in graduate school said, “If we measure in small enough increments, everyone is getting better.” He was referring to clients attending counseling services and how slow progress can be at times.

Now that I am out of graduate school and in the field, I see what he means. It is easy to get frustrated with ourselves and with others when we do not see the results that we desire or expect. We likely all know people where a change seemed to happen overnight, but it is important to remember that this is not the norm.

When we are struggling with something such as depression, anxiety, or addiction, it is important to remember that these problems have sometimes been present for years or even decades.

Imagine for a moment that you have been a front desk receptionist at a hospital for thirty years and the boss says to you, “Congratulations, you’ve been promoted to brain surgeon. Your first surgery is in twenty minutes.” The decades you have spent as a receptionist have made you very proficient at thinking, acting, and behaving in a certain way, but you are not prepared at all for brain surgery. It would take a lot of practice, education, and effort to move into that position and the same is true for our mental health.

Years of self-defeating thoughts, worry, and stress have shaped us and changing things up will be difficult. It is easy to get discouraged when we do not make those changes overnight or we are not a brain surgeon after a week, but it is important to be patient with ourselves.

If we keep pursuing Christ and are working to improve our mental health, we will always be able to see progress, no matter how small, if we look closely enough.