Tiny Victories

In this gentle and encouraging episode of the Infinitely Precious podcast, James Henry reflects on the importance of recognizing and celebrating tiny victories—especially during seasons of emotional heaviness, grief, or overwhelm. When big goals feel out of reach and progress seems invisible, James reminds listeners that even the smallest acts—getting out of bed, preparing a simple meal, showing up—can be meaningful steps forward. Through compassionate self-talk and a shift in perspective, we’re invited to honor the effort it takes to keep going on our hardest days. Each breath, each step, each moment of presence is a testament to our resilience—and a reminder that we are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved, exactly as we are.

Episode Transcript

intro (00:00):
Welcome to the Infinitely Precious Podcast produced by

(00:03):
Infinitely Precious LLC. Yourhost is James Henry. Remember,
you are infinitely precious andunconditionally loved for the
gift you already are.

James (00:12):
Hello beloved, it's me James and I have some thoughts
that I'd like to share with youtoday about tiny victories.
Oftentimes when I'm facingchallenging moments in my life,
the difficulties seem tooverwhelm me. I talked about

(00:38):
just in Tuesday's podcast aboutoverwhelm. How do we overcome
overwhelm? And part of whatflows from that very same
podcast for me is theopportunities in our lives to
celebrate the tiny victories.
Sometimes it feels like we'renot moving at all. We're not

(01:00):
finding a way forward that we'restuck. And because we feel that
kind of stuckness, it becomesuncertain to us that we're
moving at all. And in the midstof that, we can begin to feel
defeated by the challenges we'refacing. And some of the big ones

(01:26):
are going to overwhelm us and wemight not be able to
successfully complete them atthis moment.
And it's in moments like thatthat I try to be attentive to
the tiny victories that I'm ableto achieve or receive. Let me

(01:53):
say a little bit more about whatI mean by that. Sometimes there
is a daunting task that lies infront of me. I've broken it down
like I suggested on Tuesday'spodcast. I've broken it down.
I've taken it one item at atime. And yet, it still feels

(02:13):
like at the end of the day,there are still more tasks to do
than I could ever complete. Andit's important in moments like
that for me to look at thosetasks I have been able to
complete. And sometimes it's noteven tasks. Sometimes when we

(02:35):
are weighed down by an emotionalweight, grief, sadness, we can
celebrate that we were able towake up and get out of bed this
morning, perhaps fix even asimple breakfast for ourselves,

(02:59):
perhaps even to imagine that wecould move forward one step at a
time and each one of those stepsin themselves a victory.
This may seem menial to you, mayseem small, and it may seem

(03:23):
small to me at times. I'm liketalking to myself. And, you
know, self talk, we've talkedabout that before. My self talk
tells me that I'm not makingvery fast progress, that I'm not
moving as quickly as I hadhoped, but I am moving. I have
put one foot in front of theother, have made one step.

(03:45):
Now, sometimes we're going tomake great strides, but other
days we need to celebrate thatwe got out of bed, that we made
that one step, that we were ableto kind of go through the
motions of the day. It becomesvery easy for us sometimes, very

(04:05):
easy for us to sometimes thinkthat not moving quickly is not
moving at all and that in itselfis a mistake. We need to give
ourselves credit. I don't wantus to be patting ourselves on
the back every time we do thesimplest thing, we showed up,

(04:28):
But sometimes showing up whenwe're under heavy stress, deep
sadness, grief and those things,showing up itself is a success.
Maybe showing up on your bestday is not a success, not a big
deal.
But on your worst days, showingup is worth celebrating. The

(04:50):
fact that you appeared, that youdid make the effort to be there
even if your being there is notwhat you think of as your best
being there. And that's the hardthing I think for all of us is

(05:13):
we have set up sometimesunrealistic expectations of what
victory in our lives looks like.And victory is a victory
imagines its opposite, defeat.To even use the word victory is
to imagine that there is adefeat.
And I suppose there are ways inwhich sometimes we allow for

(05:37):
life to defeat us. But in ourgreatest struggles, when we have
overestimated for ourselves whatvictory, what succeeding in
today will look like, then we'renaturally not going to make it.

(05:57):
We're going to fail. We're goingto fail. But if instead of
couching it as a failure, ifit's seeing that today's best is
not your best best, it's today'sbest.
The tiny victory was I did thosesmall things today and they may

(06:21):
have seemed very small to you,and they may to someone else
seem so insignificant as to noteven count, but only you know
what you've got to put in today.Only you know how much energy
you have for today. How bereftof spirit you may feel today.

(06:41):
Only you can know whether or nottoday has been a success. Only
you can know if you've madesteps forward and even if they
were tiny steps they were steps.

(07:03):
In some ways it feels like I'marguing in a circle and it's not
really an argument. The fact issome days are not like other
days. No two days are alike andit is worth celebrating on your
most challenging days the littlevictories that you had, the

(07:27):
little steps that you took. Onyour best day, it might not be
enough to celebrate those thingsbut on your worst days and you
know those days, you know thosedays, Stop, catch your breath,
recognize that the fact you'reeven catching your breath is

(07:52):
itself a tiny victory and thatvictory is worth celebrating. So
every day is different.
Every step forward, whether it'sa great stride or a small one,
is in itself a movement. If youare able to bring yourself to

(08:18):
the moment you're in and look atwhat you're bringing to that
moment right now, On a day whenyou're drained of energy, on a
day when you feel broken by theworld, on a day when you are
weighed down by sadness orgrief, to have made the steps

(08:40):
that you made if you're honestwith yourself, is a victory. Can
you celebrate your victories?Can you recognize that on your
worst day showing up at all isitself a victory? Can you see
the gift that you are and thatyou are indeed doing your best,

(09:06):
giving your best, trying yourhardest on hard days.
And if you can with honestyreflect on those tough days when
it's hard to see anything good,when it's hard to do anything
but have negative self talk, ifyou can on those days see the

(09:32):
gift that you are and see thetiny victories that you've made
as tiny as they may seem, thenperhaps you will also see that
you are infinitely precious andunconditionally loved for the
gift you already are. And thatthe gift you already are in

(09:54):
being that gift, some days thegift looks different than other
days and it's okay. It's okay.To the tiny victories in your
life, I wish you great successand I wish you great hope and I
wish you all the best on yourbest days and on your worst days

(10:20):
and perhaps every one of thedays in between. Until the next
time we see one another, all thebest.