In The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner tells his son, "Don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something. You got a dream, you gotta protect it."
The movie shows what actually happens in the shadows.
There are seasons when nothing seems to be working.
You show up, but you can't see the results. You try, but things stay stuck. You wonder if you're changing at all or if you're circling the same mountain, again and again.
It's tempting to believe that growth is only real when it's visible.
The truth is that becoming often happens behind the scenes.
Like roots growing in the dark. Like seeds preparing to break the surface.
As Maya Angelou once said, "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
Sometimes that untold story is the one you're still writing, the story of who you're becoming, word by invisible word.
There's a transformation that doesn't show up in photos. That doesn't earn applause. That doesn't feel dramatic or obvious.
But it's real.
You're learning how to be patient with yourself. How to stay when you used to run. How to Respond When You Used to Shut Down: How to trust what you feel, even if it's messy.
That's becoming.
Even if no one else sees it yet. Even if you don't always see it yet.
Rumi wrote, "Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray."
That strange pull often works in whispers, not shouts. In gradual shifts, not sudden revelations.
Change doesn't always look like fireworks.
Sometimes it looks like showing up for another quiet morning and making another choice that aligns with your values. Letting go of an old belief that used to define you.
You are not the same person you were a year ago.
Or six months ago. Or even last week.
And the parts of you that feel stretched or uncertain or undone, those are the growing edges.
Trust them.
Trust that something is taking shape, even now.
You don't need to rush the reveal. Just keep tending to what's true. Keep walking the path. Keep watering the roots.
You are already becoming.
Even in the quiet. Even in the dark.
Especially there.