July 18

PATIENCE MONTH: DAY 18: “The world gives us PLENTY of opportunities to strengthen our patience. While this truth can definitely be challenging, this is a good thing. Patience is a key that unlocks the door to a more fulfilling life. It is through a cultivation of patience that we become better parents, powerful teachers, great businessmen, good friends, and a live a happier life.” ― Steve Maraboli

I have always, in my heart, wanted to be a patient person. It is so much more comfortable to be patient with myself and the world. I had glimpses of it, but my fear was so great in so many areas of my life that I could not achieve any sort of patience. I have a card that gives another version of the principles of 12-step recovery; and it has Humility for Step 7 and Willingness for Step 6. I used the principles that have been most powerful for me in these steps, so they are different than the cards you can buy in bookstores selling 12-step literature and supportive products. On that card, Step 11 is where they see Patience developing. This has not been my story. Patience comes, for me, when I patiently allow the Universal Power to step into my life, Step 3, and I practice NOT participating in those defects of character that show the world how impatient I am with the process of my life unfolding as it is meant to, instead of how I would like it to. It has taken a long time for me to get familiar with those causes and conditions and to stop using the behaviors that came from my erroneous ways of seeing life and the world around me. I love it when I hear new people share in meetings that they are working on their character defects…yikes! Please don’t do that! We can’t do anything with them, except strive to let them go and become willing to let God have them. This process is excruciatingly slow for most of us. I certainly have had to become torturously patient with myself and my progress and my life. The pace of the Universe unfolding is slow, often to the point of frustration for us. Learning to sit still with that process is always going to manifest itself in miraculous ways, but we have to learn to let it happen. I think this is one of the biggest challenges we face…there are a lot of slogans that indicate that IMPATIENCE is a great handicap for us and for our recovery. I know it is how SO many of my character defects manifest themselves. And knowing how to wait while life unfolds is interesting. The best way I can answer the question we all ask when awaiting the outcomes of life situations for which we want the answers NOW is that we always have footwork that we need to do today to make ourselves and our lives ready for the shift that is coming. We must do what is in front of us to be done. If I am waiting on the unfolding of a job, I must prepare myself for the success of my job search…resume, attire, attitude, etc. Then I do the footwork and leave the results in Creator’s hands. I get busy with meditation and gratitude and all the things that keep my own house in order, since that is what I am here to do. I let the details of the next job come when they are fully formed…and I have to say, they always do and they always have. When I go out and make things happen and grasp and claw at solutions for myself, they are less than right for me and I pay prices like crazy. Sooooooo…I have learned to sit still and Let Go and Let God. Meanwhile, there is always something I can do to get out of the way…meetings, writing, cleaning my house and yards, volunteering my time somewhere to help others (btw: there is A LOT of service outside the rooms where we can be useful). So I focus on what I need to be working on and let the other stuff go…it ain’t mine, it has been given to a Power Greater than myself and I need to NOT try to get it back and fix it. Waiting times can and are productive and good for me. I can exercise a bit more, meditate a lot more, do the work that I tell my sponsor I don’t have time for when I am working…check out other meetings, all kinds of wonderful things! And the difference is that I stay out of the way, because I cannot create anything miraculous…and I am here for the miracles…I insist on the best stuff I can get out of this deal, and the only way it happens is when I sit patiently and await what I know is gonna be awesome…if it doesn’t come from ME.