How Far Have You Come?

Do you ever stop and consider how far you've come in your writer journey?

This Monday night a former member of our photo club is teaching the session. She was an excellent photographer when she left four years ago, and now she's critically acclaimed and does photo workshops and classes.

I've been a professional photographer for over twenty years, but I'm nowhere near her level. I'm sure many of the others will look at her accomplishments and wonder how she got to that point and be in awe. I thought that for a moment, and then it hit me.

How did I wind up a motivational speaker? How did I end up teaching classes on publishing and promoting and am now putting together a book on the subject?

How? I just kept learning and moving forward.

We often look at the achievements of others and see only the glamor. But success doesn't just happen. There's a lot of work involved, most of it boring. So often we're caught up in that work, we fail to stop and realize how far we've come. We may not be where we want to be, but we're so much further than if we'd never begun the journey. And besides, the journey doesn't really end until we take our last breath.

How far have you come? Have you really stopped to think about it?