The Power of Patience

There are 3 things I will never pray for: perseverance, humility and patience. Everyone knows you don’t get the actual thing, just the opportunity to develop it. Case in point…

I hit all the red lights. I pick the slowest lane at the grocery store. And if there’s a train, I’m going to be stopped by it.

But those are the small things.

There are about 4 big projects I’m waiting on that are stretching my patience in all kinds of interesting directions. When I wrote “How to Wait Like a Winner,” I was taking my own advice (still am!) and maintaining momentum while not obsessing about situations that were out of my control. But once again, I’m at a standstill.

Standstills are particularly bothersome to people like me who seriously lack patience. For years I’ve had this underlying fear of dying young. Well, I’m not exactly young anymore so I should technically be able to put that aside! In any case, I don’t want to leave the earth without accomplishing everything I was purposed to do. Now, if I really believe I was born with a purpose, then I should have a bone-deep knowing that I’ll not stop drawing breath until it’s done.

That said, I still struggle. Think maybe I’m supposed to learn something?

There’s power in patience if we slow down long enough to find it.

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By slowing down, we allow ourselves to really assess what’s important. That in turn allows us to make better decisions without rushing into places we don’t belong. By making peace with where we are instead of constantly driving ourselves to where we think we should be by now, we can be grateful for what we have this minute. We can shed some anxiety and let the ol’ blood pressure go down. We can even stop yelling at the car in front of us, “The gas pedal is the one on the right!” (A-hem, it’s just a random example…)

It’s okay to take a detour.

It’s okay to downshift.

It’s okay to rest.

I’m a work in progress and I have many more hurdles to overcome in this area, but I’m convinced there’s power in patience, if we slow down long enough to find it. Keep your peace, friends!

Do you struggle with patience?

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