Patience at a snail's pace?

Snail:

may suggest moving slowly through life; can indicate being

slow and methodical; may represent what you’re waiting for may

not come for a long while; can suggest a need to speed up or hurry

up; as in “at a snail’s pace,” taking your time

This symbol keeps coming up for me today.  And, it's one trait I have no patience for!

Patience has always been a difficult thing for me, as it is for many of my friends and clients.  It's hard to be patient when that means you have to wait for something that you desperately want to happen.  Immediate and total gratification are what we all desire.  It isn't that we don't want to have to work to get what we want.  It is more that we are so excited to achieve or acquire our desires that we just don't want to wait to get them.

I have been told, over the past decade or so, that I needed to be patient.  My book would come out, and would be successful.  My business would grow and expand, but none of this would happen until it was time.  This is a hard concept to buy into.  Why do I have to be patient?  Why do I have to wait?

The universe has it's own time frame. It expects us to follow it, but knows that we will challenge it at every turn.  When we challenge it, sometimes we will succeed, but usually there will be another road block thrown up or a detour to get us back on track. 

There is a cliche, everything happens for a reason, that I believe applies here.  If we stray from the designated path we are following I think destiny pushes back a bit.  This is not to say we shouldn't challenge ourselves to overcome obstacles.  I fully believe we should.  However, if something just doesn't feel right, or feels off in our gut, our intuitive area, that may be a sign that we are no longer following the road we are meant to be on.  If we continue down that road, what else may go wrong?

I have to believe that patience, though it slips through my grasp on a regular basis, is a necessary quality and part of a delicate balance. It allows for the buildup of excitement and adds to the crescendo of feelings that give us the opportunity to truly experience life and not just travel through zombie-like, emotionless.

So, although I continue to be impatient, and strive to accomplish things quickly and at times even instantly, I know that sometimes slow and steady wins the race.  Sometimes even, without patience, what is accomplished is almost anticlimactic.  Achieving something we've worked hard for is more rewarding than almost anything. 

Being patient....I am patiently waiting for it.