My old dog shows me on a daily basis why we need patience.

When I am walking him to the front door for his morning walk, he gets ahead of me and puts his nose right up to where the door is about to open. He is so keen to go outside, that I can’t open the door. I open it a crack and he starts trying to squeeze through the space.

All I can say is that it gets messy and uncomfortable – every freaking day!!

Every day, I take this as a reminder to be patient. I remind myself “Don’t get ahead of yourself Nicole or you’ll get all tangled and stuck.”

It is a really useful reminder for me as, if there is one thing I know about myself, it is that I need patience.

I need patience with my husband, I need patience with life, I need it with my children, and I absolutely need it with my projects and creative ideas.

Right now, for example, I am truly testing my grasp of patience as I get my book proposal ready to send off to Hay House. It tests me to sit here and hold the space for a big, far off dream rather than all the little jobs that feel relevant right now.

Yet, I realise that over the years, my impatience has impeded me from bringing my best self into the world. Impatience has had me lacking focus, multitasking, hurrying things and getting too easily distracted.

I don’t want to be sucked into that time hurried vortex anymore.

I invite patience.

It is hard. Patience means sacrificing things. It means saying no. It means allowing things to take their time. It means being present, here and now, rather than off with the next shiny thing. It is hard in this culture of instant success, overnight fortunes and so many distractions.

Yet patience offers the biggest reward of all. It  promises me what I truly want: deeper intimacy. An invitation to go back in and explore things more closely and with more presence.

How about you?

Where are you needing patience lately?

Where has impatience got you all stuck?

I would love to hear from you. Leave a note in the comments.

 

Take care