Fr. Joey Cruz gave a short speech the other day that I found very wise.

He said that when he was a student, he was on the track and field team.  His coach always kept two books of record.  One book recorded an athlete's actual performance.  The second book recorded an athlete's performance prior to training.  The coach, he said, was interested in growth, not just in achievement.  You could win every medal and trophy, but if you did not show any improvement, you weren't a winner in his eyes.

Change is always fascinating and we as human beings are attuned to detecting change.  Change is what gets our attention.  It's always more interesting to see people improve than to watch them shine.