Recently, I spent 4 nights in Yorkshire on retreat. We were hunkered down in a cosy haven ‘on the tops’ with expansive views all around.
I always appreciate the time and space to take a step back from my daily life, and this time was especially helpful as it was a return visit.
I’d been to the same place with a number of the same people almost 2 years before. I could feel the difference between back then and this time - in them, in me, in my life, in how I related to those I knew and those I was meeting for the first time - and others could too.
I was surprised at the shift. For me the time in between retreats had felt more like evolution than revolution.
But of course, over time, it all adds up.
It can be hard to see and appreciate the everyday small changes we make.
The steps forward, the adjustments, the progress, the small decisions that can go unnoticed, accumulating one at a time. It’s easy to lose track of how it all adds up when we’re in it.
We can think that not much has happened or changed - until we stop to look and see how far we’ve come.
Or until other people share what they see.
So, as we head into the last month of the year, it’s a perfect time to take a step back and see how far you’ve come.
To reflect back on where you were at the start, and where you are now, and to appreciate the steps along the way.
To ask others what they see in you now that wasn’t there before. And to offer to do the same for them, because it’s a gift to acknowledge what may have gone unnoticed.
Can you see how far you’ve come?
And if not, can you ask others to share the gift of their perspective?
Wishing you a week of acknowledging progress,
