Am I Making Progress?

by Darcie D. Sims, Ph.D., CHT, CT, GMS

January is a reflective month. Ice ponds reflect the leaden sky, and the heart reflects the emptiness of a frozen spirit. When will we begin to thaw? When will we feel like we're making some progress in this place of icicles and cold sheets, sunless days and long, empty nights? Will we ever be happy again? Will I ever be ME again?

January is also the month for making promises, commitments and resolutions (which are FANCY promises). We begin our new year with high hopes, strong wills and long lists of things that will be different this year. To celebrate my commitment to a New Me, I bought a jogging suit, expensive shoes, and a digital watch, complete with timer, pulse meter and M & M dispenser. (You've got to have some motivation!) THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT.

We also spend some time looking back over the road we've traveled, and sometimes we wonder if we have made any progress at all. In the beginning, we misplaced car keys, checkbooks, toothbrushes, relatives and important stuff like the TV Guide. We had to begin making lists of everything. We simply couldn't remember anything. I couldn't remember my address, social security number, zip code or my mother-in-law's birthday. (I never could remember that.) I even started making lists of my lists! I knew I was going to be okay when I first discovered I could remember that I had made a list.

You know you're making progress when you can coordinate an entire outfit again. Shoes, belts, ties, purses, even sweaters and jackets often got left, simply because we couldn't think about what to wear when we were hurting so terribly. Many of us didn't even know the panty hose were on backwards, or the tie was crooked. If you are wearing matched shoes right now, then you are making progress.

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