Improving One Step at a Time

By Heather Bergeson

Sitting at the cross-country awards ceremony, I didn’t realize how far I’d come.

The author lives in Utah, USA.

Another season of cross-country had come to an end, which meant it was time for our team’s annual awards ceremony. I had loved running on the team, but as the ceremony progressed, I started to become discouraged. I knew that I hadn’t been fast enough to receive any awards. It frustrated me that I couldn’t run as fast as I wanted to, especially after working so hard.

Right when I’d lost all hope of receiving an award, I heard my name announced. To my surprise, my coach recognized me for being the Most Improved runner. Our coach gave this award only to the person who had achieved the biggest difference between her fastest time from last season and her fastest time from the current one. This year it was me.

I had been so focused on what I hadn’t accomplished that, until then, I didn’t recognize how much better I’d become.

Whether it’s in running or any other aspect of life, it’s easy to become discouraged when we don’t measure up to the expectations placed on us by others or even by ourselves. The world tries to tell us that, no matter how hard we try, we will never be “good enough.” But God wants us to “pursue personal improvement in a way that doesn’t include … feeling depressed or demolishing our self-esteem” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Oct. 2017 general conference).

Heavenly Father is pleased with every step we take toward becoming better, even if those steps are small. There is no first or last place in life. All we need to do is try to be a little better today than we were yesterday.

Now, whenever I’m discouraged because I don’t feel like I’m enough, I remind myself to look back and be grateful for how far I’ve come with the Lord’s help.