Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

This morning I was doing my physical therapy exercises for my not so great knees when I reached one of my favorites, TRX squats. As I lowered into the first squat, I felt it. I had recently twisted just the right way to irritate my right knee.

There it was. That familiar pain.

What surprised me was how the disappointment and frustration overshadowed the physical pain. My inner dialogue started immediately.

"Here we go again! I make progress and then something sets me back.

Why can’t I just be healed?"

The negative self talk lasted longer than the squat itself.

Then I said the words out loud:

"Two steps forward and one step back." And something shifted.

It reminded me of my healing journey and the truth I learned along the way: a hard moment does not cancel progress. Even when it felt like a step back, I was still moving forward. God was still at work in me, and I was still further along than I had been before.

Triggers would surface, just like that pain in my knee. My body would react. My thoughts would spiral for a moment. It was my system signaling that something had been touched.

Oh yes. That part was injured before. But it is still healing.

Healing is rarely a straight path. It looks more like rebuilding strength in places that were once injured. It is slowly increasing capacity where there was once restriction. It is choosing new responses even when old patterns try to resurface. Some days feel steady. Others feel uncomfortable. But even the uncomfortable days are part of the strengthening.

So when you find yourself in that "one step back", pause. Remember the steps forward you have already taken. Remember the courage it took to begin. Remember the ways you respond differently now than you once did.

Yes, there may still be work to do. There may be new tools to learn. But that does not mean you are failing. It means you are growing stronger.

Just as my physical therapist walks beside me as my body rebuilds strength, I walk beside my clients as they strengthen their sense of safety and confidence as they move forward in the direction they want their lives to go.

As a Trauma Care Practitioner, I offer guidance and practical tools to support you as you move forward at a pace that feels safe and steady.

You do not have to rush.

You do not have to prove anything.

And you do not have to do it alone.

Two steps forward and one step back is still forward.

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