“Good things come to those who wait.”
~ Proverb
So the other day, I posted a piece from Rebelle Society entitled “Creating Happiness: 5 Game Changers.”
Their 5 Essentials to Happiness included:
1. Stop comparing yourself to others.
2. Stop shoulding yourself.
3. Make time for yourself.
4. Stop quantifying happiness.
5. Develop a belief that everything is your life is happening in perfect timing.
How do you feel about these suggestions?
I had a wonderful conversation with a friend the other day in relation to #4.
She’s come to realize she’s put off a whole lot of things in her life waiting until things where just right.
“When I have ____, I’ll be happy”, “When I get _____, I’ll be happy”, “When I find_____, I’ll be happy”, “When I feel _____, I’ll be happy.”
Once she let go of “then” and began acting in the present moment with what she has available to her now, all sorts of wonderful opportunities began to present themselves.
While for her it feels as though this shift in mindset took quite a bit of work, in reality, all it really took was her saying yes. No wonder JB over at Morning Coach always says “The master creates instantaneously.”
But how about #5?
I must question, as did Ralph Waldo Emerson:
“How much of human life is lost in waiting?”
There have been many times over this past year that I’ve become impatient.
I tend to lean more towards Abraham Lincoln’s thinking:
“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle”
Or Woodrow T. Wilson:
“All things come to him who waits – provided he knows what he is waiting for.”
I’m reflecting again on Brad Swift’s book “Life on Purpose”. That for one to really move between competency and flourishing-mastership, one needs to begin “trusting in yourself, your inner guidance and the Universe.”
Brad writes that “One of the signs of being a master is knowing that one is never fully a master of anything. However, you become comfortable with this paradox. Now is the time to give away all that you have learned, knowing you can never out-give the Universe – for the more you give, the more the Universe provides.”
This message is clearly stated as well in the Buddha’s story I also posted recently …
“You are a river flowing. See this impermanency of everything. Don’t be in a hurry; don’t try to do anything. Just wait! Wait in a total non-doing. And if you can wait, the transformation will be there. This very waiting is a transformation.”
Do you have enough faith to wait in a total state of “non-doing”?
I’m not sure I do, although I’ve been trying. What I’m coming to realize is that the faith required here isn’t a “toe half-in” kind of a thing. I think it’s all or nothing …
— Resources —
Full article on the 5 Game Changers:
http://www.rebellesociety.com/2013/12/11/creating-happiness-5-game-changers/
For some more thoughts on waiting, here’s 25 Great Christian Quotes on Waiting:
http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/25-great-waiting-quotes/#ixzz2nM0IXaoK
