I’ve been known to struggle with patience. Who doesn’t? Having patience goes against our natural response of want and need. We want something, we want it now and we don’t want to wait. We need something, we go after it. We are resourceful, we are motivated and we are determined. But what happens when patience calls our attention and we have to take a pause? How do we react?
When a situation isn't working out in our favor, we take it personal. The reaction to this is tension, pain and unfortunately drama.
We have a lot of expectations on ourself and others. I think when our expectations aren’t met, we lose our patience. We want things done in a certain light. We expect others to live up to their promises. We have visions of the life we want to live. We set timelines. Those are all expectations. What happens when our expectations aren’t met? We feel frustrated. We get fed up. We feel like giving up and walking away.
If the only thing constant in life is change then we have to trust that things will shift. We have to do the work though and make an effort. Life will present us with lessons that can help us evolve and grow. Each of us are here for a reason. Maybe that’s to be a great leader, environmentalist, parent, teacher, writer, surfer and the list goes on. Life will put obstacles in our path. It’s within the challenges that we find what we are really made of. Are we living from our heart and soul? Or from our expectations? Do we want something because it’s what we are supposed to do? Are we putting in the steps necessary to live the life we desire?
There is a secret that I’m going to share with you. Our soul never wants to see us fail. Keep that in mind because when things get tough, it will feel like the world is against you but trust that it just isn’t. Instead of feeling the heaviness, we have to exercise our awareness of patience and understanding.
Patience is a virtue for a reason. It takes work and heart. When you think about patience, how do you feel? What’s your relationship with patience? Do you think it’s unfair to be asked to have patience?
What if we look at our challenges as part of the process? A big lesson that I’m working with is to have faith. To trust that life wants me to succeed and that life has the best intentions for me. Even when it feels like everything is too much, too heavy, too different, can I instead of fighting the flow, can I have faith and trust that I can take one step forward? Can I practice patience and truly believe that everything is going to be okay?
Let’s exercise our awareness of patience. Let’s work at loosening the grip to our expectations and instead, work with more acceptance, understanding and ultimately, love.
Life is like music. It moves fast, then slow. It shares lyrics that light your passion and then goes deep into a trance with an instrumental set. I am starting to feel that our lives are a unique soundtrack that we all create with our experiences and reactions. Let’s add a song about patience to the mix and see what happens.
