My dog Loki would not have the patience to balance a biscuit on his nose. It would be consumed in an instant.

Would you say that patience abounds around us? Sit at a stoplight for three to five seconds after the light turns green and you are most likely going to hear a horn honking you from behind. Perhaps, ahem, you are the one doing the honking.

We live in a material world that wants everything NOW.

From a spiritual world perspective, I love this verse from James 1:4. Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Why I Don’t Ask for More Patience

I have this saying that I call the reverse Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction states that what you put your attention on you can manifest into your life. So, the reverse Law of Attraction is attracting something you don’t want.

For example, I am mindful not to say, “I haven’t had a migraine in a long time.” Or “I haven’t been sick in a while.” Or “My car is running great.”

Why? Because, sure enough, as soon as I say it, I’ll get a migraine, or become sick, or my car will break down! (I hope by typing these examples out loud will not cause them to happen.) ; )

I certainly won’t pray to God for more patience! There’s no telling what will happen!

I remember the story that was in the book, Eat, Pray, Love. The man kept praying to have an open heart. He ended up having open heart surgery!

You Already Possess Patience

You may think at times that you have little or no patience. But just like joy, patience is a fruit of the Spirit. So you already possess it.

If you struggle with patience, especially if you have been working on something or hoping for something for a long time, here are a few nuggets of wisdom to help you view patience in a new light.

A Couple Different Views on Patience

One comes from Humble the Poet: Patience isn’t for waiting. Patience is for allowing the necessary time to make things happen.

The other comes from a story told by Anne Lamott from her book Traveling Mercies.

She had been noticing a lot of dumb things breaking. Then she recalled a story from author and lecturer, Carolyn Myss, who had a series of everything going wrong on a trip to Russia to speak.

Flights were cancelled. Connections were missed. Her reservation at the hotel was given to someone else. She was trying to be a good sport about it but found herself whining to the person seated next to her on the train enroute to her conference.

It turned out this man worked for the Dalai Lama. He said very gently to her that they believe when a lot of things start going wrong all at once, it is to protect something big and lovely that is trying to get itself born and that this something needs for you to be distracted so that it can be born as perfectly as possible.

I rather liked these two examples to look at patience in a new way. Did you? I’d love for you to leave a comment below.

In that spirit of allowing, let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Want More Inspiration?

If you liked this post, I send an email out each Monday with a scripture and thought for you to ponder throughout the week. I call it living life with joy and flow – which is the opposite of being anxious, stressed, or stuck! The Four Steps to FLOW is a short guide included with the email to help you live with joy and flow too. I love hearing from my readers and hope you will be one of them!