A Letter to the Person You Are Becoming
On the long, unglamorous work of growing into yourself.
Dear you —
You are not as far behind as you think, and not as close as you hope. Both of those are fine. You are exactly where the work has brought you, which is the only honest place anyone ever stands.
I want to tell you something that took me years to believe: the person you are becoming is not waiting for you at the end of some perfect sequence of correct decisions. They are being made now, quietly, in the ordinary choices you keep making when no one is applauding. You are not preparing to become them. You are becoming them, today, in the middle of the mess.
Which means the mess is not a delay. It is the material. The failed attempt, the awkward season, the thing you had to start twice — these are not obstacles between you and your life. They *are* your life, and they are teaching you at a rate that comfort never could.
Be gentler with your past selves. They were doing their best with what they had, and they got you here. You do not have to disown them to grow. You only have to keep going.
And when you fall short — and you will — return without ceremony. The return is the whole practice. Nothing else is required of you tonight but to begin again tomorrow, in the same direction, a little less afraid.
You are doing better than you know.
— R
