by CJ Myerly, @mdippedinink
I’m rarely on speaking terms with patience.
On my weight loss journey, I want to be the perfect size now, not months from now. When I’m planning a menu, I choose the quickest meals because I find my foot tapping and mind wandering while I cook. When I first became a mother, I focused so much on the milestones that I often missed out on the steps they took toward those milestones. And yet, I am a teacher, mother, and author. My life requires an abundance of patience.
When we’re not patient, we often lose the joy in the journey. We focus more on the future than we do on the present. Impatience leads to frustration when things don’t happen on our timetable. It leads to stress when we put extra pressure on ourselves to be perfect. It leads to jealousy when we see others succeed. And then frustration, stress, and jealousy stifle creativity. As authors, that’s the last thing we want.
We can choose to be buddies with patience, but how?
Rely on God. C.S. Lewis said, “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” Patience isn’t something we can perfect. However, the closer you draw to Him, the easier it is to be content with where you’re at. And I’ve found that contentment is the key to patience.
Encourage others. As fallible people, it’s easy sometimes to focus on our needs and our desires. In the past three years, I’ve made so many writing friends. Connecting with them is one of my greatest joys. Impatience often leads to focusing on self, which makes it impossible to encourage others who are in the same place we are. As a member of the ACFW and Novel Academy, I’ve made those connections that have given me the opportunity to be an encouragement to others.
Use the wait as time to learn. When you submit to agents, you’ll likely wait for a few weeks to even months before receiving a response, if any. When you land an agent, it takes more time to wait to find a publisher. In fact, everything about the writing journey requires patience. Start your next novel. Read books on writing craft. Keep learning.
Love the Journey. The journey is just as important as the destination. There are lessons to be learned, skills to refine, and friendships to cultivate. If we could skip straight to our goals, we would miss out on the growth we need for the destination God’s taking us to.
We each are living in a certain season of life, which won’t last forever. When we move on to the next season, will we look back and wish we’d cherished each moment a little more? How do you remain patient while you wait?
CJ Myerly lives in Texas with her husband and two children. She balances her passions of teaching and writing by homeschooling during the day and writing contemporary romance while her family sleeps at night. She hates clutter, loves organization, and has a love-hate relationship with technology. CJ is an active member of the ACFW and My Book Therapy. She was a 2017 Genesis semi-finalist in the contemporary category and a 2017 First Impressions finalist in the romance category. She blogs about books, motherhood, and homeschooling at http://cjmyerly.com/. To connect with her, find her on Facebook or Twitter.