There are moments in every life when one finds themselves walking through a tunnel with no end in sight. Days spent in prolonged silence, simply walking and walking, unsure of where I stand or if the path taken is even the right one. We often fall into despair by staring at the “Gap”—the distance between our current self and the unreachable light of the exit (the Ideal). Like a horizon that recedes as we approach, that light can drive us deeper into a sense of helplessness the faster we run toward it.
Yet, the only way to maintain dignity within this darkness is to turn one’s gaze back toward the entrance and recognize the “Gain”—the progress made since the start. Amidst the silence where nothing seems to have changed, your feet have grown calloused, your breath has acclimated to the tunnel air, and above all, you have moved this far without stopping.
True growth begins not with calculating the distance to a destination, but with the sincerity of measuring how far today’s self has traveled from yesterday’s. A tunnel ends not simply because the exit is near, but because you have moved so far away from the entrance.