Patience (Small steps… lasting results)

We live in a microwave society and crave instant results. In fact, we hate waiting so badly that often we settle for something much less wonderful just to appease ourselves. Think about it.

When it comes to difficult tasks I think patience is on the top of the list. Why is waiting so hard for us? I mean, as women we sit in a doctor’s office for hours waiting to be seen, we wait on the phone for the automated menu to get to the number we are supposed to push. Of course, we don’t like being patient in those scenarios, but we do it.

So, why can’t we be patient in other areas of our lives? Areas that ultimately increase our emotional, physical and overall well-being? Instead, we speed up at yellow lights, want instant weight loss for pounds that took years to put on, fantasize of the perfect guy to fall in love with us but don’t have time to build a real meaningful relationship. We want our careers to soar and our businesses to skyrocket forgetting that babies need time to learn how to walk, that training and work produce strength, stability and maturity and that if something comes easily it’s probably not worth much anyway.

Truly we know the grass is always greener when it is fertilized, pruned, maintained and taken care of over long periods of time, that coffee tastes better percolated rather than served instant and soup is tastier after its been simmering all day rather than popped out of a can and heated. We admire the flowers that take seasons to bloom and appreciate the sharp glass that becomes a gorgeous treasure after years of tumbling through rough water and sand erosion. All of this reminds me of a quote by Maya Angelou that says, ““We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” Imagine the patience of the butterfly building and staying in its cocoon for five to twenty-one days, only to have an average lifespan of twelve months or depending on the size and species as little as a month. In fact, the ones you typically see in your front yard will usually only live for about a week. So why is being patient so difficult for us?

Today I challenge you to change the way you look at instant gratification. Girl, it’s time to focus on the sparkle. Give being content with small steps a try. For it is when you look down the road and see how far all those baby steps have taken you that you notice the distance you’ve covered, and the obstacles you’ve defeated. You realize the choices you made not out of haste but out of conscious knowledge to strive for and wait for the best. Enjoy the beauty of the growth, the progress of the percolating. Don’t over analyze, over think or overestimate. Just let things naturally evolve. Be patient and then there will be no need to rush in or settle. Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty and watch what wonderful possibilities patience can produce.

© c. michelle bryant

Michelle Bryant is an entrepreneur, creator and owner of Focus on Fabulous magazine, nationally acclaimed award-winning artist, inspirational speaker, self-published author of five books available at most online retailers, a multi-award winning, published photographer whose work is nationally used for worldwide marketing campaigns and featured on various items including but not limited to apparel. She shines her light and speaks from her heart in an encouraging and transparent manner and offers a message of hope, healing, and victory to any who encounters her or her works. You can check out her multitude of works at: www.divinelyfocused.com.