The Beauty of Patience

While driving through Moab, Utah, I saw an arch formed on a mountainside. It must have taken millions of years for the wind and rain to erode the rock to form this stunning and wondrous arch. When I think about it, life is often times the same way. It takes time, sometimes years, for incredible things to manifest in my life. 

Throughout my life, I have invested years in a career or relationship and sometimes change is needed, whether it be because of a bad boss, work has become unrewarding or a relationship is not working out. I have a need to follow my heart and make a big change. 

Life-impacting change is scary and I always want to minimize hurting people and myself. In that sense, being patient has always given me the time to think things through, develop a solution, prepare for the change and most importantly, be at peace with all parties involved when change is implemented. It can be helpful to practice patience and allow my feelings to subside so I can be calm and not be controlled by my emotions.

It can feel especially agonizing experiencing patience when I am in an unpleasant situation and transformation is slow. In order to allow clarity or peace to make itself apparent, I will be patient to see how things unfold instead of acting in haste. Sometimes, the situation will change on its own to benefit me, or sometimes my positive energy can allow the situation to be temporarily tolerable without me having to do much but live with a positive perspective. 

While my unpleasant situation is unfolding, I remember that until things change, now is a good time to learn. I say to myself, "What am I suppose to learn from this?"  I learn from working with difficult people to forgive; forgive them and wish them love, peace and joy because they need it more than other people. And I forgive myself if I get angry and do not respond being my best and highest self. When I am in a toxic environment, I learn how to care for myself and comfort myself, and most of all, not waste my energy dwelling on situations or people I have no control over. 

I do things to manifest a better future and wait, patiently. One cannot rush the future. The universe will reveal what it has in mind for me when the timing is perfect. Sometimes change happens suddenly, but most of the time it takes a while. Hence, when change happens and I see how everything falls into place, it feels like divine timing.  

Upon reflection, my life is as solid as a mountain with beautiful and stunning arches. The arches represent big life changes I made, formed over time with mindful patience. My life-changing experiences give my life so much dimension, like the mountains and arches of Moab. 

If you have a story you would like to share about how to be more patient or how patience has served you well, please post it in the comment section below.