It’s okay if we’re still learning
illustration by: @j.enncreates on instagaram
We’re not born perfect. Every day, we grow and change and learn. On top of that, everybody learns and grows at their own pace. Learning isn’t just a young child sitting in a classroom, reciting the ABCs and not knowing the difference between their Bs and Ds. It can be someone realizing that certain words they use are harmful and beginning to avoid using them. Learning can be reading, speaking, and going out and doing things.
As someone who feels immense pressure to get 100%s all the time or never make mistakes when it comes to things that count, realizing that I have a lot to learn and a lot of chances to fail isn’t something I’m very excited about.
Oftentimes, it’s hard to accept positive things that your brain tells you so I’m here with a few reminders that I’ve needed, too.
Take your time! Growing to be a better person or a more knowledgeable person or a person that you genuinely want to be takes time. Growth doesn’t stop after a certain achievement or age and there’s no train coming to pick you up and sweep you off to your next destination, so you can slow down.
Mistakes don’t make you a bad person. We all mess up. According to some, that’s the most human thing to do. Sometimes, what matters is what you do with the mistake. Will you brush off your mistake even if it hurt someone else? Will you use it as a stepping stone for growth?
Messing up is an inevitable part of learning. It’s not easy to accept mistakes when you’re constantly fed the idea that mistakes equate to failure. I’ll let you in on a secret: There is no time in my life when I made a mistake and didn’t learn from it. It’s also okay to ask for help or seek it out if you don’t understand it all!
It’s not your fault if it’s tough to tolerate mishaps. I keep going on and on about how messing up is natural and normal but no matter how natural or normal it is, it’s not something you can stop focusing on. That’s not something that’s easy to control and that’s okay! Worrying isn’t like a light switch that you can turn off when it’s convenient so if this is an area where you struggle, that is 100% okay!
Any progress is progress! Flowers don’t sprout overnight. It’s a process that takes a long time, lots of care, and lots of work. Even if you did one thing better than you did yesterday, that’s progress! Celebrate your small victories as much as those big ones because you deserve it.
