The saying "Slow and steady wins the race" may apply to a runner who is running in a marathon, but I also think it can apply to life with a little adjustment. When applying the quote to life, I changed it to "You call it slow, I call it steady."
I took out the word RACE because I don't like to think of life as being a race. We all will get to where we need to be when the time is right. The timing is a part of God's plan for us all. It is called Divine timing. (Divine=Meant to be, God's plan). I wish for humans to stop thinking of life as being a race and let life unfold naturally a little more, especially when it comes to big life transitions. I wish for everyone to understand that we aren't quite in full control like we think we are.
Look back on moments in your life and think about your big life transitions. Did they happen overnight or were they more gradual? I bet if you really think about it, it all happened more gradually. During our last home move, my husband and I sold our house before we had another one to move in to. We had our eyes on one, but it was in foreclosure and knew it would become available eventually. We moved into an apartment for three months until it went up for sale. We were able to snag it the second it became available with the help of our agent. The timing was definitely what I call "Divine". It all worked out perfectly. Of course we had to make the decisions ourselves to move in the first place, but the process unfolded very naturally without a lot of push. That is what Divine time is all about.
Here we are now 10 1/2 years later, selling our home and buying an RV to do some traveling. The process of selling our home is what many would call slow, but I call it steady progress. We heard stories of other peoples homes selling overnight, and while that sounds great for them, it wasn't in the plan for us. We constantly have friends and family asking "Any news on the house?" and right now, we just say "Nope." We aren't worried about it. Things will move forward when they are supposed to move forward. Others may think our process is moving SLOW, but we know it's steady.
We prayed for this exact type of transition because our next adventure is going to be a big one. We've had time to pack, sell or donate what we don't need, and have had time to mentally adjust. Mentally adjusting to a big change is an AMAZING gift. I think of it being like a pregnancy. Most human mothers have nine months of pregnancy. Their bodies not only have to get ready, but their minds do as well. We have been granted time to prepare our minds and souls for this change, as we would during a pregnancy, and it is awesome. I'd say we are awaiting the birth of our new life and the anticipation is kind of exciting.
Any time I feel pressure (that things aren't moving fast enough), I remind myself that it isn't real and then I chill for a bit. I spend time alone, contemplate my thoughts and believe that I'll get to where I need to be when it is the right time. I also try to remember the fact that any time I rush into anything, the situations never turn out well. One time my husband and I bought a car in a 24-hour period with doing very little research on it. The car broke down the night we bought it. Luckily the car dealership took it back, but we learned a huge lesson on how not to rush on making big decisions. We will carry that lesson with us the rest of our life.
The next time you feel pressure to rush into something, stop and remind yourself "It's not a race. It's Divine timing." I promise you, you'll stop worrying and life will carry you to your moment when it is time. Just hang in there in the meantime.
Question to ponder:
Are there any moments in your life where you had to wait for something?
Do you think that you would have been truly mentally ready for it to happen if you hadn't had time to prepare for it?
Art by Carolyn J. Braden, Media: Paper, Sharpie marker, Sakura gelly roll pens, BIC pencil