Patience Painting

Patience is a virtue that I’ve not acquired. For instance, I hate to stand in line. I mean I really hate to stand in line. Standing and waiting is one of those things that really annoys me (most of the time). Although, I have waited for an insane amount of hours for a movie and had a lot of fun talking to fans and just hanging out. In that case, waiting is half the fun. I think this impatience goes deeper that just having to wait in line at the grocery store. I feel like much of my life has been a waiting process. Waiting to do something that I really wanted to do, waiting for the finances I needed, waiting to be good enough, etc… At times, I found myself in what seemed to be an endless line, never feeling like I could get to the the front and buy my ticket. Now, I’ve come to realize a few things about this waiting. 1. There are times in life, when you just have to be patient, wait, and try to enjoy the journey. This is especially true, I think, for young moms, let’s face it, when you have little ones there’s little time for you to pursue your personal passions. When my son was born, I became a full-time mom and spent his childhood years pouring into him and putting my own desires on hold. It was totally worth it, but there were times when I wondered if I was ever going to get to do what I wanted to do. Patience is what will see you through during this stage of life. Other times, waiting is just part of the growth process. If you’re learning a new skill, like painting, you’ll have to wait for your skill to improve before you see your work hanging in a gallery. Days, months, years will go by while you develop as an artist. Another comparison is the farmer. He plants the seed but he doesn’t reap the harvest the next day. He waters the seed and tends to it but there’s a waiting process before the harvest comes. Some things just take time. 2. There’s a difference between actively waiting in line and just sitting on the couch waiting. There have been other times in my life when I was just sitting and waiting for something magical to happen and it never did. It wasn’t a matter of waiting my turn, it was a matter of not actively pursuing the thing I wanted. If I sat around and talked about how much I wanted to be an artist, but never picked up a paint brush or only painted when I felt like it, I wouldn’t be an artist. I would be waiting for something that was never going to manifest. Our family has a desire to travel. We’ve been waiting for the money, for the opportunity, for the magical circumstances. Finally, it his us, “What are we waiting for?” We came to the conclusion that if we want to travel, we have to make it a priority and start moving towards it. So, we called a travel agent and we began planning a trip to Paris. We’ll have the trip paid off by the time we go this fall. We could’ve kept talking about it, but instead, we took action. So, I guess what I’m saying is: there is a time to wait patiently and there is a time to take hold of your destiny. Most the time, it takes both the waiting and the grabbing hold. If you have a strong desire in your heart, stand up, get in line and start actively moving towards the ticket counter!