Anyway, as I watched the caterpillar advance a mere centimeter as I passed it, I got to thinking of our respective journeys.  I am going to be home before the caterpillar even reaches the tree in front of it – approximately 3 yards away.  For me this distance is never going to cross my mind again.  The few strides that it takes me to cover the distance that may take him an hour are 3 of maybe 1000 I will take on my morning walk.  I have no way of distinguishing one from the other, and they offered no particular challenge to me.  But at the end of the distance or the day the caterpillar may think to him self, good job today, look how far you’ve come, you made it.

All our journeys are different lengths and consist of different struggles and victories.  One small step in your day might take a person like me a week to work up the courage to attempt – just as I leapt over the day’s work of a caterpillar. 

I don’t have to know how or why it took him so long to appreciate his work to get there.  If you have a person like me in your life, try to have faith that they are working hard too – just might take longer for them.  I’m sure it’s near impossible for someone who doesn’t suffer this way to understand why a simple task for you could be so hard for someone like me.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the phrase, “what’s the big deal?” or one of it’s kind.  Believe me, I ask myself the same thing and it just makes me feel more broken.  I try to celebrate my victories as small as they are, because they will add up…and I think they will add up to confidence to attempt bigger things. 

If we can be allowed to progress at our own pace we will get where we are going too.  And when we do, we can also say to ourselves, good job today, look how far you’ve come, you made it and maybe then we too can soar as the former caterpillar will as a butterfly – weightless, confident and beautiful.  But we can only do this if we learn to forgive ourselves and let go of some of the weight that we carry around with us all day and in and out of every new situation or conversation.  Remember that God doesn’t merely gift us strength but rather provide us with opportunities to be strong.   Take these opportunities, remember and celebrate your victories.  Look how far you’ve come and tell yourself good job, even when no one else does or can.