“Change is hardest at the beginning, messiest in the middle and best at the end.”

Sometimes, change can feel abrupt. But it’s actually a process–a journey.

This quote, by Robin Sharma, summarizes that process, especially when change forces us out of our comfort zone. It’s kind of similar to the process of constructing a house, doing major reorganizing, or moving from one residence to another.

At first, it’s hard to get started. The task is rather daunting. As we get halfway there, things start to get messy. Halfway through, the house under construction is typically a mess. There might be exposed framework with no walls, tools and nails on the floor, a lot of dust, and a ladder in the middle of nowhere. Halfway through major reorganizing, there might be items all over the place in different piles. And halfway through a major move from one residence to another, there’re usually haphazardly placed boxes in different stages of being packed.

But when it’s all said and done, the house is fully built. Everything that was being reorganized has been organized. And we’ve moved and fully unpacked into a new residence. Suddenly, the change that was once hard at the beginning and messy halfway through, becomes beautiful at the end.

So as we approach a scary change in our personal lives, it helps to remember, it may not be beautiful at the beginning. It might have to be difficult at first and then messy before it can be recognized as good.