Progress

 
Progress … to advance toward a higher or better stage; improve steadily.  As the New Year approaches, we are scrambling to figure out how to do things better in the year to come. But how often do you take the time at the end of the year just to see how far you’ve come? Most of us want to be better, achieve bigger things, but if you aren’t thankful for the progress you have already made, you won’t appreciate it as much when you reach that ultimate goal. Now I say this guilty as charged. I am constantly looking for my next break or the next thing that I can be proud of. But I am slowly learning to appreciate each step. Even if I don’t yet have the hit in heavy rotation on the radio, I can listen to songs I wrote when I first started compared to those I write now and say “wow” look at my progress. I told myself that if I wasn’t progressing at a steady pace within three years of graduating from college, that I would hang it up and go for my Masters degree. But the reality is, I’m moving on up. As musicians, producers, songwriters, etc., we often have the huge spotlight in mind, but you honestly do have to enjoy the journey. As one of my mentors recently mentioned “I’m moving in big circles, with people doing big things.” Yet somehow I still find myself taking these things for granted. Patience is truly a virtue that I pray on everyday. So as this New Year’s eve approaches, I will not only be thinking of the adjustments I would like to make in my life, I will also reflect on the progress that I have made so far.