A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation".
Every Monday I will post a new thought, idea, or focus for the week. When you need a breather from life, when you need a little inspiration, or when you're about to jump over the conference table and strangle your co-worker, remember the mantra.
Monday Mantra: All the hard work, patience, and time is worth it. It's always worth it.
Why a Rubix Cube picture, you may ask? Because getting to this place with it, where all the colors are exactly where they should be, is hard. It takes time and patience...a LOT of patience. I'd imagine some swearing was even involved. After the time, patience, and probable swearing, this is what you get: a completed piece, an accomplishment, a pat-on-the-back to yourself for your efforts paying off.
I've written a couple of posts about having patience and not expecting anything. What I haven't done is tell you how that's worked for me, when I've put the time, effort, and the under-my-breath swearing into these practices.
When I first moved away from home to the big ol' city, I lived in an apartment in the ghetto-ish part of Mesa. The yard underneath my balcony was covered in beer cans about three feet deep, the antenna on my car was stolen, and there was always a lot of police cars around. I was working part time and going to school full time. My options were slightly limited because I refused to have a roommate. I was all about that "being independent" thing and the "proving myself" thing and, mostly, I was just stubborn. After a few months, I decided I was going to buy a house. Now, this is where I should lie and tell you I moved away because of all the dangers of living where I was, but no. I decided to buy a house because I wanted a dog and, in my mind, a dog needed a proper place to live. How I was going to do all of this, I didn't know. I just was.
Out of nowhere, a promotion was available where I worked. I was the new kid on the block and not the only one vying for the upcoming job, so I had to go the extra mile to get it; you know, for my dog and his future yard. At work we had what used to be called PAM and TOM; gigantic volumes of information on all the procedures you needed to know. I decided to take them home on the weekends and study them until I knew every step of everything procedure related. It was not the funnest way to spend my weekends, but my time paid off. I got the job.
While this was all going on, I started house hunting. I am a very, very picky potential home buyer and nothing was looking good in my price range. Right when I was going to give up and buy something that didn't really suit me, an ad was placed in the paper for a townhouse that was being sold, which had not one, not two, but three patios with two yards. My future brown weenie dog, who I had already named Samson in my mind, was going to be so happy! I went and saw the house and knew at once it was supposed to be mine. It was old, as old as I was, and needed new everything, but I was OK with that. I had a vision in my head of what it could be (years later, I made that vision reality). The last thing I needed was my dog.
I had been visiting the pet store at the mall near my ghetto apartment for months, just to see this one tan little weenie dog. I loved him so very much. By the time I purchased the house, he was gone. I searched the ads for weeks on end and then, on Mother's Day of all days, I found an ad for a chocolate mini daschund. I drove over that afternoon, saw the runt of the pack, and knew that little ball of belly and legs was my Samson. My dream was complete.
Along with all of this, in the new job where I was the new kid, I also ended up meeting a lot of wonderful people. People who I still call friends to this day, some of them my best friends. When I moved and took this job, none of this was a thought in my head. I was terrified of everything, actually, and mostly just wanted to go back home. But then my life, the life I was meant to have with the people I was meant to have in it, all started to unfold. I never went into that job expecting anything except my paycheck, but I ended up leaving with amazing friends and a new life.
At the time of all of this I was 19, making practically nothing, and had never thought of buying a house, at least not for a while. But it all happened. Every step of the way, I got exactly what I needed and wanted. Day by day, when I had no idea how I was going to make it all work or if I was ever going to make it in the big city, small pieces of the puzzle would fall into place and I would get closer and closer, until one day the puzzle was complete. My questions answered, my patience paid off.
Whatever you're working towards or working on, no matter what the goal or even the question in your head, don't give up. Step by step you'll get there. You may not know how, and it may not be clear, but it will happen. You just have to keep trying, believing, and having patience.
On a similar, yet somewhat different note, my Whole 30 update of Week 1 coming tomorrow! So far, so good. Although I did have a dream about cheating with popcorn, but I hear that's normal.
Related Posts
Monday Mantra: Have Patience
Monday Mantra: Expect Nothing
I've written a couple of posts about having patience and not expecting anything. What I haven't done is tell you how that's worked for me, when I've put the time, effort, and the under-my-breath swearing into these practices.
When I first moved away from home to the big ol' city, I lived in an apartment in the ghetto-ish part of Mesa. The yard underneath my balcony was covered in beer cans about three feet deep, the antenna on my car was stolen, and there was always a lot of police cars around. I was working part time and going to school full time. My options were slightly limited because I refused to have a roommate. I was all about that "being independent" thing and the "proving myself" thing and, mostly, I was just stubborn. After a few months, I decided I was going to buy a house. Now, this is where I should lie and tell you I moved away because of all the dangers of living where I was, but no. I decided to buy a house because I wanted a dog and, in my mind, a dog needed a proper place to live. How I was going to do all of this, I didn't know. I just was.
Out of nowhere, a promotion was available where I worked. I was the new kid on the block and not the only one vying for the upcoming job, so I had to go the extra mile to get it; you know, for my dog and his future yard. At work we had what used to be called PAM and TOM; gigantic volumes of information on all the procedures you needed to know. I decided to take them home on the weekends and study them until I knew every step of everything procedure related. It was not the funnest way to spend my weekends, but my time paid off. I got the job.
While this was all going on, I started house hunting. I am a very, very picky potential home buyer and nothing was looking good in my price range. Right when I was going to give up and buy something that didn't really suit me, an ad was placed in the paper for a townhouse that was being sold, which had not one, not two, but three patios with two yards. My future brown weenie dog, who I had already named Samson in my mind, was going to be so happy! I went and saw the house and knew at once it was supposed to be mine. It was old, as old as I was, and needed new everything, but I was OK with that. I had a vision in my head of what it could be (years later, I made that vision reality). The last thing I needed was my dog.
I had been visiting the pet store at the mall near my ghetto apartment for months, just to see this one tan little weenie dog. I loved him so very much. By the time I purchased the house, he was gone. I searched the ads for weeks on end and then, on Mother's Day of all days, I found an ad for a chocolate mini daschund. I drove over that afternoon, saw the runt of the pack, and knew that little ball of belly and legs was my Samson. My dream was complete.
Along with all of this, in the new job where I was the new kid, I also ended up meeting a lot of wonderful people. People who I still call friends to this day, some of them my best friends. When I moved and took this job, none of this was a thought in my head. I was terrified of everything, actually, and mostly just wanted to go back home. But then my life, the life I was meant to have with the people I was meant to have in it, all started to unfold. I never went into that job expecting anything except my paycheck, but I ended up leaving with amazing friends and a new life.
At the time of all of this I was 19, making practically nothing, and had never thought of buying a house, at least not for a while. But it all happened. Every step of the way, I got exactly what I needed and wanted. Day by day, when I had no idea how I was going to make it all work or if I was ever going to make it in the big city, small pieces of the puzzle would fall into place and I would get closer and closer, until one day the puzzle was complete. My questions answered, my patience paid off.
Whatever you're working towards or working on, no matter what the goal or even the question in your head, don't give up. Step by step you'll get there. You may not know how, and it may not be clear, but it will happen. You just have to keep trying, believing, and having patience.
On a similar, yet somewhat different note, my Whole 30 update of Week 1 coming tomorrow! So far, so good. Although I did have a dream about cheating with popcorn, but I hear that's normal.
Related Posts
Monday Mantra: Have Patience
Monday Mantra: Expect Nothing
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