Change vs progress
Changes are guaranteed, but progress is not.
A programmer who looks at her old code and realizes how inefficient or clumsy it is should be proud of herself. She has obviously improved a lot, but until this point that might not have been so obvious.
The progress always happens slowly, and never by accident.
The fact that her code wasn’t perfect didn’t stop her from writing more code. And being consistent paid off.
Instead of doing that she could’ve said: “I don’t have what it takes. I’ll never be a decent programmer. I’m not good enough.”
We say (or think) these things to protect ourselves from failure and embarrassment. But our self worth is impossible to measure. It doesn’t include just our being, but our becoming too.
Programming (and many other things) can be learned no matter what your previous experience is and what your diploma says.
Even the experienced programmers need to keep their skills up-to-date to stay relevant. The world is moving fast and the technology keeps evolving, creating new possibilities and opportunities, as well as changing the rules and expectations.
It is a revolution that abandons the old and embraces the new. Being able to learn quickly and adapt to the changes has never been more important.