Cooking by a recipe requires following directions and patience. I hate following a recipe. I guess it’s because most recipes are precise. They require measured ingredients: a teaspoon or tablespoon of this or that. How do you measure 1 teaspoon of a block of butter? Secondly, recipes require sequential steps. First do this; next, do that. And what’s more, the complete process from beginning to end is time-consuming.
It’s natural to want to combine steps. And sometimes, I do that. I guess I’m flawed. When I climb stairs, sometimes I climb 2 at a time to shorten the journey. If this sounds like impatience, it is.
Patience is a virtue. And let me say from the onset, I’m working on this virtue in various aspects of my dreams: writing, blogging, etc.
Achieving a dream isn’t unlike following a recipe. Knowledge, growth, and skills come in stages. We don’t attain these abilities and experiences in 1 step or stage. But sometimes we try to delete or combine processes to expedite gratification or reach our destination sooner.
In using recipes and completing other processes, skipping a step can mess up the desired results. Combining steps can do the same thing.
If you’re impatient like me, I guess we’re better suited to follow “dump recipes” opposed to those with a bunch of steps. I recently found a recipe for an easy 3-step strawberry, dump cake. It’s quick, easy, and “Betty-proof.” Dump all the ingredients: strawberry filling, cake mix, and butter in a pan and bake.
It can’t get any easier. And who doesn’t like easy-peasy cooking?
I do!
Why can’t there be a quick, easy, and foolproof process for achieving dreams?
The recipe for dreams coming true includes believing in yourself, hard work, passion, and perseverance. The ambitious person needs all these ingredients plus more.
When reading a good book, it is so tempting to rush ahead, skim, or skip pages to get to the end quicker.
And everyone at one time or another want to skip ahead. Take a shortcut. Eager beavers can become impatient.
While growing up, Momma reminded me many times, “The world wasn’t made in one day.” Or was it, “Rome wasn’t built in a day?” Anyway, like the creation of the world, or the building of Rome, there is a natural order and progression.
What we want and seek also has its natural progression.
And sometimes the push and pull of our efforts to make things happen drain us. And we feel like we’re spinning our wheels. So, we may get out of step with the process and become impatient.
During times like this, it’s good to recall when our dreams became a force. Remember when we were gung-ho, and we could climb Mount Everest.
Rediscover this energy, recharge your batteries, and resume the climb.
And it’s good to remember that the destination is the goal, and the journey is the process. The adventure is all about getting there but don’t forget to enjoy the expedition.
I continue to pray for more patience to embrace opportunities, learn new things, and be productive every day. But if there is such a thing as perfect patience, I probably won’t achieve it.
If impatience is one of your weaknesses, it’s okay to acknowledge it. We both know that impatience is negative energy. And negative energy can cause mistakes which require “do-overs.”
How can we combat impatience?
1. Focus on the “now.” Now is the minute, hour, and day of the journey. With impatience, there is a risk of being unproductive and losing valuable “now” time. Now is the chance of a lifetime to be positive. And wait-time between steps can be productive.
2. Practice patience. Don’t lose your positive energy and replace it with agitation or anger if waiting isn’t a strong point.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
We got this! I’m making a note to be more patient.
You can too.