A Watched Pot Never Boils
Patience is only a virtue when I feel like I need some. For most of my life, patience has remained one of the qualities of human behavior that I never really cared to possess. In an effort to hasten most of what I wanted in life, I would resort to ‘vigilance’ as a suitable substitution for patience. Being reluctant to remove a watchful eye, I preferred to entertain the notion that constant vigilance would at least provide me with something to do!
Needless to say, I had wasted a great deal of time keeping a ‘watchful eye’ on the progress of many of my creations. Whether it was a simple spell, or a weighted request, it would seem that my impatience grew faster than my desired results.
I was a scorekeeper. I continually evaluated and reevaluated my creative mastery, as well as the ability of the Universe to deliver what I wanted in a timely manner. I was one uptight witch. I had become much like an unforgiving teacher that I once had when I was in high school. I was issuing a daily report card to the Universe, just like Sister Mary Charlesetta did with her philosophy students.
“Why isn’t it here yet? Why hasn’t this happened for me yet? When is it coming? Where the hell is my manifestation, already!??”
Having to ask yourself questions such as these is usually a good indication that you are placing more of your attention on the absence of your specific desire than on the belief that its arrival is imminent.
We are so often drawn into our own enthusiasm for reclaiming control over the ’story’ of our life, that we may unknowingly place too much of our attention on the process instead of the outcome. Our focus on the ‘how’ begins to overshadow the ‘what’ of our intentions, and we may find ourselves so wrapped up in the occupation of monitoring, that we no longer recognize the resistance that we are creating. The more that you ‘look’ for results, the more resistance you produce. It’s no wonder why watching a pot of water can be so damn frustrating.
Expectation of that which you desire is all in the approach. Scrutinizing the power of Divine Self to deliver on our request does not exactly instill a sense of trust. It is one thing to set a desire in motion, trust in the outcome, and relax and enjoy the process as it unfolds. It is quite another to maintain an obsessive watch over the steady progress of the actual manifestation of your desire.
So now what?! How do you stop “thinking” about something that you really want? How does one ‘not notice’ that which you do not yet have?
If you are anything like me, the last thing that you want to hear is a story on the virtue of patience. I get it. I do not want any damn patience. I wanted an alternative.
When your mind insists on being actively engaged in your creative process, it is difficult to combat it with a lecture on patience. I found that I could begin to redirect my mind’s tendency to monitor the progress of a desired outcome by assigning it a new project to engage in. The quickest way to manifest something is to move on to another desire.
I realize that this is easier said than done. It is difficult to “forget” about something that you truly desire! And yet, allowing yourself to move on to another aspect of your story, at least for awhile, will effectively release the mind’s perceived control over the process of that which you have already set forth as your heart’s intention.
You are a powerful and capable individual. You are worthy and deserving of all that you desire in life and more. Focus on the “more” now. Chop the onions, peel the carrots, and clean the celery stalks, and the pot of water will eventually come to a boil whether you are watching it or not.
As long as the heat source has been set high enough to produce a consistent amount of fire, you can place your attention elsewhere and trust that the water will boil just as soon as it is ready:)
“You are worthy and deserving of all that you desire in life and more.”
I just used almost these exact words with a friend recently. I hope he gets it.