I consider myself one of the most patient people around and even I began to think, “is the light broken?”

Not long ago I was waiting for an arrow to turn left and while my mind was on other things I was suddenly hit with the notion that the I’d been sitting there for what seemed to be an exorbitant amount of time. I looked up to see the person at the head of the line veer out into the intersection, nearly hitting a car to avoid a pedestrian and creating what I imagined to be a collective *GASP* from everyone watching. The driver then got halfway through a U turn, obviously trying to get around a continued wait at the light, then still had to stop because traffic turning right into those lanes took the space this person spotted before making the attempt to back track. They had to wait.

I got the green arrow and safely turned left.

Watching the impatience made me think of all the anecdotes I’ve heard about how many people give up riiiiiiight before their breakthrough. It seemed a fitting lesson for me because I was having quite a lot of thoughts like that.
“When will my business income be stable?”
“When will I be able to publish my book?”
“When will my teenagers be consistently kind to one another again?”

In that moment I remembered that things happen when they happen and not a moment before; impatience does not speed up the process of creation.
The light will turn green when the light turns green.
My business will be fruitful when my business is fruitful.
It is not my job to rush the process; it is my job is to be ready for next steps.
When I’m stressed out, watching the clock and worrying about worst possible outcomes if events don’t go according to my plan then when it is my turn to take action I’ve already worn myself out and can’t really focus on the task at hand with the presence and calm required to create the best possible outcome.

That driver scared countless other people that day and when it came time to turn had actually prevented his/her desired outcome and had to wait longer than those of us who waited patiently.

This is not a criticism of those times we lose our patience it is a mere observation that “the light will turn green when it turns green” and it is up to us to determine what we do with our energy, thoughts and beliefs while we’re waiting.

Do you have thoughts like mine (where you feel like you should be seeing results by now)?
Have you ever been that person at the head of the line? What where you thinking and feeling at that time?
Have you ever been the person watching an event like that unfold? Does it help remind you of anything useful?