I am sure that at some point I decided to stop trying so hard. Perhaps it was a gradual and evolving decision to stop. Maybe it was only a loosely defined intention.
It is now clear to me that it is no longer so important to me that I achieve. My driving gust to be the best has changed direction. Where there were once goals, things to achieve, I now stop, pause and take in the view.
Accepting things as they are seems so much more important to me than changing them to my liking. I may have even stoped imposing expectations on others, especially my own kids. I don’t seem to be so attached to their achieving, reaching certain outcomes. It is better, I think, that I accept and observe what is happening than think of how things might be changed.
I am less inclined to yield to how others might want to change me. I smile more at their attempts and gently nod. Now I nod in acknowledgement, not in acquiesce. I may have stopped investing in their expectations, or being moved by them.
I suspect that I am missing opportunities for what might be considered progress. It has been the human habit to seek to make things better, to achieve, to produce. I more often stop to observe, to notice, to understand.