Invisible Work, Lasting Change

Let me tell you a story about dirt, water, and grass. But really, it's a story about growth. The kind that takes time, the kind we can't always see, the kind that feels invisible until one day it's not.

Whether you're on a health, weight loss, healing journey, or just trying to become more of who you're meant to be, this story might speak to your heart.

We recently moved to a small mountain community where water conservation is taken seriously. No sprinkler systems or sod allowed. All landscaping must use native, drought-tolerant plants. When we moved in, our yard was completely dirt, front and back. When it rained, that meant mud everywhere.

We longed for even a small patch of grass, something soft and inviting that felt like home rather than a dirt lot. After research, we chose to hydroseed with native, cold-tolerant, drought-tolerant grass that had to be grown from seed.

Growing grass from seed is a serious commitment. It became a running joke that I now have a part-time job: watering. I water this patch of dirt four times a day. Not too much, not too little. It has to stay just moist enough, but never soaked and never dry.

For weeks, I saw nothing. Just wet dirt.

When Progress Feels Invisible

I started to doubt it would work. I told my husband, "Maybe the seeds are duds. Maybe I need to call the company because nothing's happening." I almost gave up.

Then I did research and discovered these particular seeds take 14 to 21 days just to germinate. Sure enough, about three weeks in, tiny blades of grass started poking through. Baby grass. Not a lawn, not lush, but a glimmer of progress.

From there, I learned it could take one to three years for this kind of grass to fully establish.

Isn't our personal growth, the kind we're doing from the inside out, exactly like this?

The Real Work Happens Underground

You put in the work. You nourish and water your thoughts and new truths. You protect your inner world from old patterns that want to swoop in like birds and eat up all your hope.

For weeks, sometimes months, you might see nothing. You might feel like you're doing everything right, yet nothing is blooming. But beneath the surface, something powerful is happening.

Your nervous system is learning to feel safe again.

Many of us learned early on to live in survival mode. To react quickly, people-please, shut down, cope with food, or work toward perfectionism. These patterns didn't come from weakness. They were brilliant adaptations to the environments we were in. Our nervous systems were trying to keep us safe.

The beautiful thing is what was learned can be unlearned and rewired. Your body can learn to pause instead of panic, breathe instead of binge, rest instead of run.

But like grass seed, that rewiring takes time, repetition, nurturing, and patience. Most of it you won't see right away. You might feel discouraged or wonder if it's working, but the roots are growing.

Seed Work vs Sod Results

Sometimes we expect what I call "sod results." You know sod - that beautiful grass rolled up like carpet that you lay down for an overnight perfect lawn.

We want to lay something down and have our lives look perfect overnight too. But sod is instant and shallow.

We're not doing sod work here. We're doing seed work.

If you expect sod-speed results while doing seed-level transformation, you'll feel discouraged and might give up before growth begins.

Instead, look for the baby grass seedlings in your internal work. What might they look like?

Maybe you start pausing before reacting, even if just for a breath. Maybe you feel an emotion instead of numbing it with food. Maybe you notice a negative thought and question it instead of believing it. Maybe you offer yourself grace instead of beating yourself up when things don't go perfectly.

Those are your seedlings. Those are signs your roots are working.

The Protection That Comes With Slow Growth

Here's something I've noticed: when you grow something slowly and intentionally, you protect it. I've never appreciated grass so much in my life. Every tiny blade pushing through dirt excites me, but I'm also protective. I watch it, care for it, value it because I know the work I put in to grow it.

It's the same with inner work. When you've worked hard to retrain your nervous system to be calm instead of reactive, when you've laid down new thought patterns and untangled old beliefs, you don't casually toss that aside.

You protect it. You honor it. You become less likely to sabotage your progress because you see what it cost to get there. Because you didn't rush the process, your growth feels real, rooted, and yours.

The Foundation Determines the Height

Certain species of bamboo spend years growing root systems underground before anything appears above surface. Some take up to five years just to grow roots. Then in weeks, they shoot up to 90 feet tall.

How strong does your foundation need to be? What are you building?

If you're building something requiring a strong foundation, you're not just changing what you do. You're becoming someone new through what you believe, feel, and practice.

There's a Taoist saying that captures this perfectly: "To grow a tree, you don't tug on the branches, you tend to the roots."

You're growing something truer, something stronger. Eventually, this makes old patterns feel completely unnecessary. You'll look back proudly and protectively because you did the real, lasting work.

4 Ways to Keep Going When You Don't See Results

1. Notice How You Feel: Even before visible results, ask: "How do I feel when I choose a better thought or make a better choice?" Often you'll feel lighter, clearer, more capable, more empowered.

Those emotional shifts - from discouraged to determined, from powerless to proud - are part of the transformation. Empowering thoughts lead to empowering feelings, which lead to consistent action, which creates visible changes over time.

When you feel that internal lift, honor it. That's your seed cracking open.

2. Measure Internal Progress: What we don't measure, we can't improve. Internal progress can be measured through journaling about how you're changing, not just what you did.

Maybe you used to spiral for hours and now catch it in minutes. I used to stay up for hours replaying mistakes, thinking "How stupid I was" or "I can't believe I said that." Now when I catch it quickly and think "That's just me being human," that's a huge win.

Maybe you talk to yourself more kindly than a month ago. Track those shifts from negative self-talk to neutral to positive. One day you'll look back and see how far you've come through internal healing and growth.

3. Include People in Your Journey: It's tempting to keep inner work private. This was difficult for me - being vulnerable and sharing personal struggles, especially with my husband. But once I started sharing, I felt a real difference.

There's something powerful about letting someone you love share your journey. Maybe you tell a friend, "Here's what happened at work today. I said something silly and I didn't spiral. That's new for me, and I'm excited because I'm starting to have my own back."

When we speak growth out loud, we anchor it in. Sometimes others reflect your progress back when you can't see it yourself.

4. Embrace Patience as a Hidden Gift: Every time you show up despite discouragement, you're building patience. Patience isn't passive - it's strength under tension.

The patience you build now serves you later in relationships, health, leadership, parenting. It's fruit that takes time to ripen, but once it does, it's one of the most nourishing you can partake of.

You're not just growing results. You're growing you.

Trust the Underground Work

If you're in a season where your grass hasn't come up yet, keep watering. If you feel like nothing is changing, trust that roots are growing. If your progress is slow and mostly invisible, you're not alone, not behind. You're becoming.

Just like my little mountain patch of grass, the beauty you're growing won't be overnight, but when it emerges, it will be strong, resilient, and rooted. You'll cherish it, protect it, and know its value.

If you drove up my driveway and saw my tiny blades poking through, you might not be impressed. But I am. I see every blade, every bit of growth, and it lights me up inside.

This growth is for you. You'll notice the smallest changes others might miss, and that's okay. It's not for them. You'll know the value because you put in the work. You didn't slap on a fix. You grew it from the inside out.

Elizabeth Elliott said, "Don't dig up in doubt what you planted in faith." You have to have faith this process works because it does. But don't dig it up in doubt when you don't see immediate progress.

Let it take root. You're doing better than you think you are.

Ready to learn more about trusting the process when change feels invisible? Listen to the full episode of Wellness Mastery with Jen Hoyer for more insights on building lasting transformation from the inside out.

Listen to Episode 28: Invisible Work, Lasting Change