Practicing Patience

My son bought a “Dino Egg” recently. The instructions said to place it in water and wait about 48-72 hours for it to hatch and fully grow. My friend Liz came over for dinner that night and saw the egg starting to hatch. Let’s just say that there were some temptations to try to move the process along by jiggling the table, tapping the plate, and shaking the cup the egg was in. Liz texted me at least once a day for the next few days. “Has it fully hatched yet?” “What type of dinosaur is it?” Here were some the “updates” I provided her: 

 

Finally, four days later, we got our answer (well, sort of…it looks like a triceratops but only has two horns).

In a world where instant gratification is increasingly becoming the norm, where are you being challenged to practice patience right now? Maybe you are waiting on: a job acceptance or promotion, healing from an illness or injury, getting customers, finding a partner to share your life with, vegetables to ripen in your garden, or business results. We put all kinds of work into planting the seeds. Often the more challenging part is waiting for an answer or results. How do you make the waiting part more bearable? Maybe it’s reminding yourself of everything you have done so far. Maybe it’s simply acknowledging that things take time. Maybe it’s practicing gratitude for what you already have. What works for you?