Patience In Your Season

Friday, October 28, 2016




"There is an appointed time for everything,
and a time for every affair under the heavens."
- Ecclesiastes 3:1, NAB 

***

I wouldn’t want to go swimming outdoors in the fall. Ice cream loses a bit of its appeal when the weather gets colder. And strawberries aren’t as sweet as they were five months ago.

I miss the summer. And in some ways, I wish it were here again.

But I love fall. I love roaring fireplaces and cozy socks and pumpkin spice and apple pie and sweaters and slow mornings with steaming cups of chai tea.

I love fall because… it’s fall. Because there are things you can only do at this time of year, like visit a pumpkin patch or go for a hay ride or take a hike through gloriously golden fall hues. I love fall because it’s unapologetically autumnal. It doesn’t try to rush into winter, spring, or summer, believing any of those seasons to be superior to it. It knows those will come eventually, and so it moves confidently, slowly. Fully embracing, fully present. One hundred percent rocking the things that make it special, and completely unconcerned with winter wonderlands, spring showers, and summer strawberries. It doesn’t question that it will be okay, that it has a purpose, even though it’s different from all the others.

I want to be more like fall.

See, I often get stuck playing the comparison game. Though maybe I shouldn’t call it a game so much as a gauntlet, because the act of comparing is where dreams go to die, silenced by the twin blades of envy and insecurity. Raise your hand if you’ve made that march a few times before, too.

Yep. Thought so.  

I often find myself looking at others’ achievements and feeling as though I’m not where I should be. As though I’ve fallen behind. Like there are dreams I should have reached by now, because other people have done so. I use their success as a measuring stick for my own progress, and I feel so far behind.

But what if I’m not behind? What if I’m just in a different season of my life?

What if it’s okay to be moving slowly toward my dreams because that’s part of my season? What if it’s okay that I don’t have tens of thousands of Instagram followers? What if it’s okay that I haven’t published a book? …Yet.

What if I’m exactly where I need to be right now? And what if there’s beauty in that?

Guess what? There is. Just like fall isn’t supposed to be summer, I’m not supposed to be walking anyone else’s path. And neither are you.

Stop. Breathe this moment in. This is your season. What is meant to unfold will come, as surely as fall turns to winter, which turns to spring, which turns to summer. And there is purpose in that slow, steady, confident progression. There is something precious and unique to this time in your life, to this part of your journey. What’s to come, will come, exactly as it should, in its own perfect time.

For now, just relax. Slow down. Savor. Trust. Practice patience.

And sip your pumpkin spice latte.

Photo Credit: www.metaphoricalplatypus.com Flickr via Compfight cc

2 comments :

  1. Thank you, Sarah. This is just what I needed to read today.

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  2. Thank you for your kind words, Lauren!! I so appreciate you taking the time to read this and am glad it resonated with you. :)

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