Our fitness journey doesn’t always look the way we think it will. Plateaus, injuries, and other obstacles get in our way and maybe slow us down. PRs don’t come for months or even years at a time. What felt light a month ago feels like a ton of bricks today.

Such is the life of an athlete — even a pro. And like everybody else, pros get frustrated too. One day, Brooke Ence ran into some trouble while maxing out her snatch. While anger initially started to take over, she took a step back and found perspective once again. In a rather moving Instagram post, she shared her thoughts on “failing” — and it’s an important reminder we all need to hear.

185# attempts….. man is it tough to fail a weight that last year I was power snatching. -YESTERDAY- • I was asked to max out my Squat Snatch and I ended up with 180#…. 5lbs heavier than my max attempt at the @brute.strength athlete camp back in September. You can see my frustration when I fail 185, a weight that I was power snatching last December… BUT i cannot be greedy with my training, any improvement is a positive. And right now in my training and life I have a lot to be proud of. ? so here’s to living and learning and all progress no matter how Insignificant it may feel. #itmakesence #brutestrength #thecomeback #crossfit #bionicwoman #training #weightlifting #progress #onestepatatime

A post shared by brookeence (@brookeence) on Dec 5, 2017 at 10:57am PST

Main image: Brooke Ence/Instagram