Worthwhile things take time to mature.
Once the process is on way, the growth as started, the wheel is turning, the journey has begun, the deciding is done, the dice have rolled, and it becomes about patience, about staying with the process until it is complete.
We may know where it is going, we can't skip steps, act as if we have reached our destination already. Yet, we feel compelled to find that extra action to take, and that other risk to pre-empt, and this last nudge to help it through, but at this point, watching the tree won't make the fruits grow faster.
While the process is unfolding, we keep steady, nurture our faith in the near certainty of right outcome, and go through the motions, make sure we are ready for harvest once time finally comes.
Communion with the creation is not an instant affair, it is a process which requires us to quiet down, seek inwards for contentment and renounce any attempt at taking control.
Forcing our way through would only complicate and delay the inevitable yet favourable outcome. The waiting holds experience too, of which the value will be revealed eventually.
Impatience is a liability in social life. It takes away the others' turn to play, the chance for everyone, at their own pace and in their own views, to align and find their place in the group.
The constant readjustments and realignments that underlie group dynamics can be the source of endless frustration, a sense of being trapped or held back. But the truth is, we don't have, know and master everything, and we will need them too.
Never mind the fact we are probably taking for granted the support we are already getting.
While there is much we desire, we can't let the more blur the have.
We need to practice enjoyment, contentment, acceptance and gratitude, expand ourselves that way, for an unpracticed heart can't be satisfied however fine the delights.
There is always cause for celebration, a connection to make, a sight to contemplate, nurture to be received and given.
Progress is not a continuous, linear affair. It may have phases of leaps and bounds, and phases of seeming stagnation.
Plateaus question our methods, introduce doubt, are sometimes the opportunity to let go of clutter and dead weight and gain perspective. They change how we see the path, as well as the destination. But they need to be progressed through too.
Forcing progress on a plateau, seeking to accelerate, tick boxes or make the progress visible will only result in temporary success, with likely failures of these forced achievements down the line.
On the way from here & now to there and then, we cross moments of discomfort, unfamiliar territory, nondescript ground to walk on.
Finding a haven on the journey, even an unlikely one or a seeming set back, provides the needed rest to keep going and get through the next phase.
Giving ourselves permission to pause when there is so much to do or so far to go may feel lazy, defeated or directionless, but strength needs to build up to take us far.
As the evolution culminates towards a new state of affairs and the transition feels tangible, the progression slows, requiring more patience and acceptance of needed stabilisation.
This is not regression but a landing, a settling down of changes. Heightened expectations for the announced arrival elongate time.
Just because it is now more certain doesn't mean it can accelerate.
After all the sweat, tears, patience, maybe some losses and a great deal of doubt, the course become certain, the lessons can be learnt, and the growth can be celebrated.
All in all, it ends well. The success is found the goals reached as well as the strength and beauty emerging for what was invested, lost, missed and overcome.
Gradual Progress
Development (Gradual progress)