When I was a little girl,
I had a kid’s garden.
Like most kids, I thought the seeds should sprout immediately.
By the end of the week, I couldn’t wait any longer. So, I dug them up to see if they were growing yet, and of course, destroyed the fragile new sprouts!
A very patient mom made me a simple calender so I could cross off the days until sprouting time, and learn to wait rather than dig things up before their time.
I still need to remember this lesson…
The hollyhocks in this illustration take a full year to grow to blooming size from seed, and often die the following year, leaving one to wait another year for the next blooming size plants.
Bugs eat the buds, diseases can put ugly spots on the leaves, the rabbits/deer/woodchucks chew up the plants, the weather is too cool and wet or hot and dry…
So many things can delay (or destroy) months of patient expectation.
And yet with all the possibility of things that could go wrong,
don’t we all hopefully plant seeds for long term goals?
Finishing an education,
raising a child,
saving up money for a house,
starting a business,
finding a job,
breaking a bad habit or starting a good one,
trying to exercise more and eat well,
learning to accept, honor and respect your body, with all its “flaws”.
No matter what your goals are,
the most meaningful accomplishments take time and, yes, much patience.
Don’t dig up your seeds quite yet!
Wait.
Trust.
Practice Patience.
Do you have a long-term goal that is testing your patience?
ps: this illustration is for a book-in-progress…
What’s testing my patience right now is school; I’ve been done highschool for nearly 7 years and have a BA in English. I thought that was it but now I’m back at the local university and taking another course (only a year certificate) but it’s taking now a semester longer than I wanted. I just want to be DONE!
hang in there Jen, for one more semester! having that certificate will be a goal you can cross off your list.
what’s testing my patience? ummm, what’s not?
the biggie is getting to used to “life after menopause”, I’m not at peace with the older woman I’ve become…but I’m working on it1
I have a teenager, so my patience is tested daily! And I also find I am very impatient with myself–I need to cut myself some slack, let my seedlings of change and growth get a foothold without pulling them up to see if anything is happening!
one of the hardest things to do is be patient with yourself! (not to mention everyone around you) glad you have planted some seeds of change!
I love the picture. I need to work on patience! Stopping from SITS!
I tend to be a pretty patient person, but sometimes I just wish there was a fast forward button in life. I have to remind myself that I could miss some good stuff.
I’d like to think of myself as a fairly patient person but there are some days when that patience is truly tested. Even still, this is a very valuable lesson to keep in mine (I’m surprised I never dug up the seeds myself!) and I love the accompanying illustration. Hope you’re having a great week!