Progress for the sake of progress

I know someone who’s a handyman.  He and I were talking the other day and he was sharing with me about the jobs he’s been doing lately.  He was lamenting that all the jobs were ones that he can’t see progress with by the end of the day – plumbing jobs, putting in ice makers, wiring.  Um, I’m fairly sure you can see progress with all of those.  Running water, fresh ice and working lights – sounds like a big improvement to me.  But I could see his point – unless you knew those things weren’t functioning/there to begin with you wouldn’t know they’d been fixed.  It’s not putting up tile or painting a wall – those things most people would notice right away.  Yet in life how many little changes do we make that no one notices?  Like doing 10 push-ups a day?  Sure, even a haircut can go unnoticed.  Some people won’t notice anything unless it bites them.  How about bigger changes?  Like if we decide to be a better person by volunteering at some obscure charity?  How many people will know unless we post it on social media?  So, then the question becomes why are we changing?  Are we shaking things up to please ourselves or others?  Do we change because we see a need or a lack in our lives or because someone tells us we need to be something other than what we are?  Don’t get me wrong – change can be a good thing.  However, it needs to be done for the right reason and at the right time.  Progress doesn’t need to be seen, it doesn’t need to be shared.  Sometimes it just needs to be felt and held until it melts away like an ice cube…