Snail Speed

I've decided that this is me:



Forget the tortoise, I am the snail. And I'm cool with it.

It feels pretty good to embrace snail speed. I tried so hard to push against it, but it turns out acceptance of snail speed is the first step towards tortoise speed, which I may graduate to next year. Or in 2027, I like being unpredictable that way. In the meantime, I'll be sliming along with some sun glasses on and a tall glass of ice water.

Want to know what else? Patience. Isn't that a great word? It's my word for 2017 and the reason I was able to finally embrace the snail in me. That word kept shining brightly in my mind towards the end of December when I thought more about what I wanted for the upcoming year.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, "Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace." Oh man, doesn't that sound dreamy? "A purifying process," I love that.

Everyone knows how much our world wants to smother patience. We think of a question and then we just grab our phone and ask Siri what the answer is. Can you imagine waiting until you could go to the library? And then when you got to the library you actually had to go find the right book. And then you actually had to read the book to find the answer! It's crazy talk, I know.

Here's another one. I want to tell my mom about something cute Spencer did so I shoot her a text. She can read it instantly. People used to write letters? What? And then a pony carried it miles away and the receiver read it three months later? I almost feel like I'm speaking in riddles. That kind of waiting is unfathomable in our day and age.

This year I'm going to reclaim patience. Patience for my boys, patience for Jayce, patience with my day-to-day routines, patience with the Lord, and most importantly patience with myself. I'm going to grant myself more patience. Doesn't that sound nice? Relaxing? Forgiving?

In a mom webinar I listened to, one woman continually mentioned that she wanted her home to be a "soft place to land" for her kids. I love that. I love when our home feels that way. Safe, peaceful, joyful. I want that for my family and I want that for myself. Patience is essential in creating that kind of atmosphere.

Here's another great one from Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "There is an important concept here: patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can--working, hoping, and exercising faith..." 

Of course my goal isn't to be 100% patient 100% of the time, because that's setting myself up for failure. Patience with myself also means being patient in acquiring more patience. Is that a mouthful? A good thing to fill your mouth with, I guess. I may be at snail speed, but I'm still moving forward and that gives me warm fuzzies. Here's to sliming my way through 2017. :-)




"All this suggests that we must learn patience with ourselves and others in our current weaknesses and imperfections, and we must learn perseverance in the unavoidably gradual process of growth unto perfection." -Elder James J. Hamula




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