This week was a tough one. My sweetest little best pup, Ollie, had an accident that required surgery, and what followed has been a rollercoaster of progress, setbacks, and worry.

When someone you love is hurting, you want things to get better right away. Every encouraging sign brings relief, and then every setback makes you hold your breath again. I wanted each day to be a little better than the one before it, but this week reminded me that recovery doesn’t always follow the timeline we hope for.

So, the Turtle felt like the right companion for this week: Slow progress is still progress.

It’s a message I need more often than I want to admit. I’m comfortable being busy, moving things forward, and checking something off a list. Waiting is MUCH harder for me, especially when there isn’t something I can do to make the process go faster.

But let’s face it, some things need time. Healing. Finding our footing after a difficult week. Catching our breath when we’ve been carrying a lot of worry. We can care deeply and do everything we know to do, and still have to wait.

So this week, I’m trying to give Ollie and myself a little more patience. To appreciate the small signs of progress without expecting them to become big ones overnight. And to remember that it’s okay to slow down and step back when life asks us to.

Maybe you need that reminder this week, too.

And in case you’re wondering, Ollie is right here beside me, snoozing away as I write this… resting and healing at his own pace.

– El

I’ve encountered sea turtles while scuba diving, and there is something so magical about watching them move through the water. They are always my favorites to spot and watching their rhythm makes it easier to settle into my own.

Sea turtles offer a beautiful reminder that activity and rest both belong in a balanced life. As ectothermic reptiles (say that three times fast!), they possess naturally low metabolic rates, and their heart rates drop dramatically during dives to conserve oxygen. Every aspect of their biology is masterfully adapted to manage and preserve energy.

That gives us something to consider when we’re tempted to measure progress only by how much we accomplish or how quickly something changes or in Ollie’s case, how quickly something heals.

We often expect improvement to arrive in a clear sequence: A little better today, a little stronger tomorrow, and then back to normal by next week. When a challenging day with setbacks interrupts that pattern, it can feel as though we’ve lost all the ground we gained.

But one difficult day doesn’t tell the whole story. Sometimes we need a longer view to recognize what is changing. The Turtle’s message invites us to make room for a slower pace. There are times to move forward and times to rest. There are days when we can take on something substantial and days when caring for ourselves or someone we love takes most of what we have.

Slowing down can be an appropriate response to what life is asking of us. We don’t have to turn every hard experience into an opportunity to do more.

This week, consider where you’ve been expecting an overnight change. What would it look like to give that process more time? Perhaps you could adjust a deadline, acknowledge a small improvement, or let yourself rest without immediately planning how to make up for it.

Slow progress is still progress. And on the days when progress is difficult to see, patience and care still matter.

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