It is so hard to keep pushing forward when you can’t see the light at the end. If you have ever been in the desert, you have probably noticed how distances are deceiving. You see a hill in the distance and think you know how far away it is, only to get further down the road to realize, it was twice as far as you thought. The stretching land and its air along with the sun make it visually difficult to determine how far away you are. Looks can be deceiving.
I feel like life can be this way too. We think we are closer than we think towards a goal. We make leaps and bounds towards achieving a goal.
Only to hit a roadblock.
A roadblock that will put more time back into your timeline. A roadblock that makes you back up and redo some of the work you thought you had finished. Has this ever happened to you?
I cannot count the amount of times it has happened to me. And sadly, I let it push me off track and walk away because I felt a loss of progress. It became hard and I am too impatient. I think we all can be that way. It’s natural to us to want things to happen quickly. We see the end goal and we want to get there within the amount of effort we *think* we have put into the goal.
But no goal is without setbacks. We will have stop signs and walls. We come across red tape and mountains that seem overwhelming. This is why we need patience. Patience is being able to handle troubles or delays without a negative reaction. It is taking those deep breaths before you react to those troubles. Remaining calm is a hard thing to do. I cannot say I am any good at this. I can only say I have tried. I tried again. Like any ability you may not naturally have, it takes practice.
So how can we build patience?
1. Identify your responses.
I know I get overwhelmed feelings very quickly and my first response is panic. How do you respond when you feel overwhelmed or trouble drops int your lap? Knowing those reactions come from stress and feeling overwhelmed helps you identify that you need to stop and begin the next steps.
2. Take a beat.
Just stop. Time is not of the essence when you are freaking out. It could actually create more harm than good. When we are in panic mode we may begin taking steps to put bandaids on the problem, but we are not actually fixing the root of the problem. So take a deep breath and clear your mind. Wait until you calm down before you move to the next step.
3. Lay out your baby steps.
Once you are in a good headspace, you can now break down what steps you need to take to problem-solve your issue.
4. Take one thing at a time.
Do each one at a time and don’t pay attention to the time it takes to finish a step. If you focus on the time it takes, you are only going to rebuild your worry and potentially get so worked up again that you miss the mark.
And don’t forget, you will not do this perfectly every time. It’s ok. Give yourself grace and learn from the experience. Continue to practice and you will get to the end goal when it is the right time for you.
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