The small wins matter too.

Whether it’s passing the first semester of med school, making your first batch of cookies, or even just getting through your first few gym sessions, these small moments deserve to be celebrated.

You deserve to be celebrated, and you should be.

But what happens when life has not been easy? When every time things finally start to go right, the complete opposite happens. And when life finally begins to brighten in ways you never thought possible, you become afraid to believe it’s real.

You hesitate to celebrate the small wins because a part of you is scared this happiness will somehow be taken away.

Scared that things are simply too good to be true.

I think sometimes when life has hurt us enough, we begin to live waiting for the next bad thing to happen. Even in moments of peace, our minds struggle to rest. We become so used to surviving that happiness almost starts to feel unfamiliar.

We all have our own battles we fight daily, and one of mine is giving myself grace to slow down. To take a break without feeling guilty for it. As if I am not allowed to rest when there is still so much left to do. And it is usually in moments like this that I spiral into my overthinking.

There is a quote by Rupi Kaur that says, “You do not just wake up and become the butterfly. Growth is a process.”

I think that is something we all need to remember more often. Healing is not linear, and neither is learning how to be happy again. Sometimes growth looks beautiful and inspiring, and other times it looks like simply making it through the day without falling apart. But even then, you are still growing. You are still becoming.

I know it is not right to constantly beat myself up or look down on my accomplishments. I have come such a long way, and every day I am growing, healing, and glowing into a version of myself I once prayed to become.

So I want to remind myself, as well as those of you out there who may be feeling what I am feeling, that it is okay to slow down. It is okay to celebrate yourself and your happiness without waiting for something bad to happen afterward.

You are allowed to enjoy the good moments while they are here.

You are allowed to rest.

You are allowed to be proud of how far you have come, even if you are still becoming who you want to be.

You give so much of yourself to others, and you must learn to show up for yourself in the same way, if not even more. Because at the end of the day, the small wins matter too. Sometimes they are the very proof that, despite everything, you are still moving forward.