Everywhere online right now, people are sharing “How it started vs. how it’s going” posts again—career glow-ups, recovery journeys, relationships that survived impossible odds. Bored Panda just spotlighted a fresh wave of these stories, reminding us that behind every side‑by‑side photo, there’s a long, messy, very human “in between” that never makes the grid.
We see the before and after. We almost never see the Tuesday nights full of doubt, the quiet sacrifices, the tiny choices nobody claps for. Yet that hidden middle is where real life—and real growth—actually happens.
Inspired by these viral transformations, here are five life quotes to carry with you in your own “in between” season. Not for the polished, perfectly lit moments, but for the half-finished chapters you’re still writing right now.
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“Your ‘before’ is not an embarrassment; it’s the proof you were brave enough to begin.”
When we look at those “How it started vs. how it’s going” posts, the “before” photo can feel almost painful—old apartments, tired faces, jobs we outgrew, bodies we were still learning to inhabit. Yet every radiant “after” owes its existence to that imperfect starting point. The first version of you—the one with the shaky plan and no clear roadmap—deserves respect, not regret. That earlier self chose to try, and that choice changed everything. The next time you cringe at an old picture, remember that the person you were had less clarity, fewer resources, and still moved. That’s courage in its purest form. You don’t have to love your “before,” but you can honor it. Without that version of you, there would be no story to tell.
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“The part no one posts—the days in the middle—is where your character quietly rewrites itself.”
The posts going viral now usually jump from “struggling” to “made it” in a single swipe, but life never moves that fast. Between those two frames are years of choices: getting out of bed when you’d rather disappear, sending one more application after 30 rejections, sitting in uncomfortable honesty in therapy, saying no to shortcuts that don’t fit your values. No one films you deleting an angry text instead of sending it, or going for a walk instead of spiraling. Yet these middle moments are the ones that rewire who you are. Character rarely changes in one big scene; it shifts through tiny, unshareable decisions that no one sees and you’re tempted to underestimate. When your life feels painfully ordinary, remember: you are standing in the exact place where the real transformation is happening—off‑camera, but not off‑course.
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“You don’t owe the world a perfect glow‑up; you owe yourself an honest progression.”
Many of the “How it started vs. how it’s going” stories are beautiful, but they can quietly pressure us to turn our lives into a presentation. It can start to feel like every hard thing we go through must end in a triumphant reveal, or it doesn’t “count.” But you are not a campaign; you are a person. You don’t have to move cities, double your salary, or transform your body to validate your existence. An honest progression might look like: learning to speak more kindly to yourself, leaving a situation that was slowly draining you, setting boundaries your younger self never knew were allowed. None of that is easily captured in a side‑by‑side frame, yet it can be the most radical change of all. Let your life be measured more by inner alignment than outer applause. Quiet progress is still progress—especially when it’s for you, not for likes.
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“It’s okay if your story isn’t linear; growth often feels like circling the same mountain with a deeper understanding each time.”
So many viral posts compress years into one simple arc: “I was here, now I’m here.” But when you listen to the actual people behind them, another truth emerges: they almost never moved in a straight line. They quit and tried again. They healed and relapsed and then started over. They thought they had found “the one” or “the perfect job,” lost it, and had to design a new version of hope. If your life feels like you’re facing the same lesson again and again, it doesn’t always mean you’re stuck. Often, it means you’re meeting an old pattern with a slightly wiser heart. You respond a little faster, a little softer, a little more bravely. That’s growth, even if the scenery looks familiar. Give yourself credit not just for the distance you’ve traveled, but for the depth you’ve gained.
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“One day, today’s uncertainty will be the ‘how it started’ someone else finds hope in.”
The stories going around today are doing more than entertaining us; they’re quietly recalibrating our sense of what’s possible. A stranger’s “before” photo can make us feel less alone in our own beginning. Your present confusion—this exact moment where you don’t know how it all turns out—is future encouragement waiting to be shared. You don’t need the full “after” yet to live meaningfully right now. Showing up kindly, doing the next small right thing, holding on to a thread of belief when proof is missing… those are the scenes that, later, will make others whisper, “If they could keep going from that, maybe I can too.” Even when you feel invisible, your persistence is quietly drafting a story that might one day be someone else’s reason not to give up.
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Conclusion
The latest wave of “How it started vs. how it’s going” stories reminds us that lives can change in ways we can’t predict—and that behind every transformation is a very human, very fragile middle.
You may not have a dramatic before-and-after photo to post today. You might just have unanswered questions, unfinished plans, and a heart that’s tired but still trying.
That is enough.
Your “how it’s going” is still in motion. Let these quotes be small anchors you can return to when the middle feels endless. One day, you may look back on this season and realize: this wasn’t the part of the story where you were lost. This was the part where you quietly decided who you were going to become.
Key Takeaway
The most important thing to remember from this article is that this information can change how you think about Life Quotes.
