Invisible Progress: Learning to Trust the Path You Can’t Yet See

You’ve made the decision, but the outcome hasn’t arrived yet. You are in the in-between, and it’s testing your self-trust. If that sounds familiar, keep reading.

Many of us are on a path toward living a better life. Whether we are healing ourselves physically or emotionally, we are stopping generational traumas, we want something different for ourselves and our families, we choose healthier ways every day, and we raise children much more consciously.

We all experience that unsettling period of uncertainty — the in-between. It's the uncomfortable space between making a decision and seeing its outcome clearly. We often wish life offered immediate reassurance that our choices are right. Instead, we face ambiguity, patience-testing delays, and unexpected results. This post explores how to navigate these uncertain moments by trusting ourselves and finding strength in our intuitive decisions, even when outcomes are not immediately visible.

Understanding the In-Between

The in-between is a period where we're actively working toward solutions, investing energy and effort, but can't yet see or feel clear results. It’s natural to desire instant validation, but real life often leaves us waiting, questioning, and doubting.

Am I doing it right?

Why isn’t this working?

Is everyone else ahead of me?

Should I give up?

I don’t see or feel results.

Finding a community of like-minded people helps stop all these questions instantly, because you see it works. Whether it’s a supportive group of parents with young children sharing a similar parenting approach, or a special Substack community of highly sensitive people who are overwhelmed by this world together. Navigating the in-between with someone is golden.

But usually, there are not many other people who go through exactly the same as you are, or you do not have direct contact with them. Even if you follow the guidance of the most profound expert that you admire (Hello, Gabor Maté), your way is unique, and the reasons for the steps you are taking come from various previous experiences and conditioning.

So it’s actually very normal to feel the yuck of the in-between and have doubts.

The Challenge of Delayed Outcomes

Why persist when results aren't immediately visible? During uncertain times, it's essential to reflect deeply:

Would you still choose this path if nothing else mattered?

Do you genuinely want this change?

Deep inside, do you feel this approach is beneficial?

Are you just comparing yourself to the incomparable?

Chronic physical conditions, like musculoskeletal pain or other persistent health issues, often have deeper emotional or psychological roots that aren't addressed by Western treatments alone. True healing demands patience and inner exploration. That might easily make us question the more complex approach. When someone is getting better by taking a pill and I am here trying to heal myself in the long term and still suffering, should I even continue?

Practicing Compassion and Realistic Expectations

We tend to feel defeated when improvements don't arrive quickly. I feel this strongly when I am sick with a flu-like issue — I am frustrated and impatient: Why am I still unwell? Why does it take so long? But these are moments that teach us compassion for ourselves and our bodies. Practicing gratitude for small progress and allowing ourselves patience are vital during the healing and recovery process.

Sometimes, our bodies speak through pain or discomfort, signaling deeper emotional or energetic issues. Opening yourself to explore these subtle messages might unlock paths to healing you haven’t yet discovered.

Healing rarely happens instantly; it usually involves temporary discomfort, confusion, or sadness. Recognizing and accepting these feelings as part of our journey helps us navigate uncertainty with greater peace.

Even if we are experiencing dark feelings during our healing journeys, we can still hold space for the glimmers on our way. Making room for positive islands of things, people, and nature around us while surviving hard times requires even more strength, practice, and patience. But we are able to hold both simultaneously. It is not necessarily like: Everything is black now and once it’s over, all will be rainbows and unicorns again. Real life is much more complex.

Walking the unsure path. Co-created with DALL-E.

Trusting Your Intuition and Building Self-Confidence

Some of my most significant life decisions — moving to another country, choosing a younger partner, and homeschooling — initially faced negativity from others. Yet these decisions, driven by deep intuition and careful consideration, ultimately strengthened my self-confidence. Trusting yourself despite external doubt is essential, even if improvements aren’t immediate or linear.

Real-Life Examples of Navigating the In-Between

• Health Issues: Laying down the reasons behind my chronic back pain took years. During that time, the pain didn’t go away. The actual, felt improvement only came last year, when I was finally able to almost physically reject burdens that weren’t mine and put them down. But throughout those years, even if I couldn’t prove that my healing was working, I was slowly gaining insight, building strength, and moving toward the shift that eventually came. That long, uncertain stretch was a classic in-between.

• Breaking Generational Trauma: I chose to put a stop to alcoholism in my family. There was no immediate improvement, no wave of relief. It’s difficult to be the first woman in generations to no longer tolerate alcoholics being around children. I also made the choice to create a job based on my inner calling — not out of financial pressure or a lack of options, but because it felt right. These changes aren’t instantly visible or widely applauded. The in-between here is long and gradual, with small, slow steps forward.

• Intentional Parenting: I’ve made many parenting choices that feel like invisible work — extended breastfeeding (you can’t exactly see the neurons or stem cells being formed), consciously building strong attachment with my child without distractions or interference, and choosing not to evaluate, compare, or speak harshly about my child, my husband, or myself. Parenting, I’ve found, is all about planting invisible seeds. They’re hard to create in the moment, and the results aren’t immediate. I can only hope, deeply and sincerely, that these seeds will one day allow my child to live a full and happy life. Until then, I am in the in-between.

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Embracing the Journey with Confidence

Take a moment to ask yourself:

Which of my decisions am I proud of? Was it difficult to make it through?

What did I learn from the ones that didn’t turn out well?

When did I last truly trust my body or intuition?

Navigating the in-between means accepting that emotional labor and continual questioning are part of our journey. It's okay not to see immediate results or receive external validation. Trust your intuition and experiences; they’ve brought you this far. Even in uncertainty, your self-trust can guide you toward eventual clarity and fulfillment. And you are always capable of pausing, re-evaluating, and shifting.

Remember: You are on the right path, precisely because you are your path.