Growth and habit...

Every day I go for a run in my neighborhood (You may have seen the wild boar and monkey posts last year). The pictures here were taken over a two week period in December (Day 1 was Christmas Day)

Day 1 The plant, cut back by 5 or 6 feet is leafless and seemingly lifeless

Day 2 As above no leaves or stems seemingly lifeless. But wait, the root system that sustained a plant 3 x taller with dozens of hand sized leaves is still there...

Day 3. The first few shoots of new growth appear in just a few places

Day 4. The more shoots appear, and as the tiny leaves appear...

Day 5. The root system now garners energy from the new leaves, accelerating growth

Day 6 , 7. Leaves develop and new shoots previously dormant begin to grow

Day 8 onward. In addition to leaves, new branches are growing and each branch bears new clusters of leaves.

So that's what I observed in that plant. But I realized that it's the same with me too. Building a new habit is like day 1 - there is no progress only potential - starting from scratch. But on day 2, progress still is hard to see but under the surface I begin to bring all of the experience of learning I have garnered over the years - how to absorb, analyze and apply new learning. Day 3, I start to see results and the parallels continue. If viewed over an hour or a day, progress can appear slow or slight. But measured intentionally and over time - the growth can be incredible. Focus on the lesson today and practice, practice, practice. There may be setbacks, progress might not be immediately apparent - but look at where you started...

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