Effort and Progress

Today in my speech therapy session with a kindergartner and a first grader, I gave myself a lesson.  

In my room, I have two ways for kids to know how they are doing on their speech goals.  For articulation kids, I have a tree with several branches that represent where they are in their progress toward using their sounds correctly all the time in conversation.  Each kid has a monkey with their name on it that climbs up the tree as they make progress towards their speech goal.  I also have a chart for kids with language goals.  Its a scene with a launch pad, the sky, and a space scene.  Each kid has a space ship that they put in one of three places that corresponds to the amount of help they needed from me that session.  The launch pad means they need maximal assistance from me, sky scene means they needed a moderate prompt, and the space scene means they completed their specific task on their own.  

While working with these two students, on had almost mastered his goal for the session and the other was doing a new task that was difficult for him.  The kindergartener said "{First Grader} isn't doing very well.  His space ship is in the sky."  First Grader's face dropped and he looked at me, willing me to come to his defense.  

"That's not a kind thing to say, and it's not true.  {First Grader} is doing well because he is trying his best.  In speech, it doesn't matter to me if you get all the questions I ask you right or all of them wrong, as long as you are doing your best work and trying to do better than last time." 

I've been thinking about that all day.  What really matters is effort and progress.  There are so many goals I have for myself- health goals, professional goals, spiritual goals, goals as a wife and mother.  Its easy to feel like I'm not doing very well because I'm not perfect in practicing.  I'm not achieving immediately, and all on my own.  The refining process is slow and steady.  I am doing what I can with what I have been given every day, and I reminded myself today that I am enough.  I think that will be my mantra for the rest of the year.  I have enough, I give enough, I am enough.