Hilary Swank has revealed she's "allowed" herself to feel proud of how far she's come.

The Oscar-winning star grew up in a trailer park in Bellingham, Washington, before she moved to California to pursue an acting career. On Sunday, Swank took to social media to reflect on how her life has changed.

Posting a photo of herself wearing a wetsuit, Swank wrote on Instagram, "I grew up on this lake and life looked a lot different. I try to take moments of pause to look back and see how far I've come, and allow myself to feel proud, on top of the enormous mountain of gratitude."

Swank continued to discuss how her life has changed since childhood, as she compared her early years to the life she has given her two-year-old twins Aya and Ohm.

Their upbringing is a stark contrast to her own, but the 51-year-old star is committed to keeping her children grounded.

She continued, "I used to ride my bike down the same road I walk my dogs and toddlers down now. My children's childhoods obviously look a lot different than mine did, but I try to inspire that same wonder and dreaming I had as a little girl, biking through a neighbourhood much different than the trailer park I lived in."

Elsewhere in her post, Swank urged her followers to also find time to take stock of their life and celebrate their journey.

The Million Dollar Baby star shared, "So often we are so focused on the road ahead we forget to take pit stops to look back and see how far we've travelled, and in reality there is no moment of arrival ever, simply a life of travel."