the upside of waiting

Patience is not my strongest suit. I have been known to rush a process because I want to reap the rewards of something I haven't earned yet. Can you relate?

In the time it takes to reach a goal, we actually become the type of person who can maintain and sustain what has been cultivated. Similarly, if something is waited for, earned and looked to as it becomes it is far more likely the experience will be cherished and treated with the respect it deserves. Gratitude is sexy and so is hungry patience.

Babies take 9 months plus to move from an idea into being. Seeds, too, must move through layers of soil before reaching ground and making their grand appearances. I have been reminded of  again and again, "anything worth anything takes time." Think about any major goal you've accomplished. If that had come to you in one fifth, even one half of the time, would you be prepared for the responsibility that came as a result? My big example of this is graduate school and becoming a therapist. I went through in 4-5 years of classes and commuting three to five nights a week. It was an initiation in more ways than I can describe. While I complained about the process (even though I chose it and paid a lot of money, even more importantly, time, to be there) how I grew through the difficulties, long nights, unfamiliar material, training and relationships are priceless. I would not be nearly as grateful or equipped today had I not gone through every single late night drive home, four hour class, exam, role play, lecture, or hallway chat with a classmate. What was I in a rush for? I was becoming... this is something that simply cannot be rushed. It wasn't just about passing classes and getting through the requirements for school and the education boards. My character had to grow. I needed the time and space and process, just as it was, to become who I now am. Why did I think I knew better than the system that had proven results? 

The same has gone for many other venues in my world and those of my clients. The impatience factor is a tricky one. While desire and vision are fuel forward, they can also trip us up when we minimize the value of internal growth as well as external. Sure, material proof that we are "succeeding" is lovely, yet the rewards of becoming a person of character, integrity, faith, follow through and unstoppable vision are not to be overlooked. What would happen if you chose to stay the course, savor the moment you are in and trust that you are headed exactly where you are needed. How might your world change, inside and out, if you embraced patience, perhaps even with a smile?

I won't go into this too far, yet I will drop this example in the vaguest of terms for those of you who aren't convinced waiting pays. Foreplay is to Sex as Patience is to Pleasure. I'll leave it there.

Don't rush the process. That being said, don't quit on the dream that wakes you up in the morning either. You are right on time & anything worth anything takes time.

With Big Love,
Darcy