Give it time

“It takes a little time sometimes to get your feet back on the ground / It takes a little time sometimes to turn the Titanic around / It takes a little time sometimes, but baby, you’re not going down. It takes more than you got right now / Give it, give it time”

~ Amy Grant “Takes A Little Time”

Monday morning, the parking lot of the tiny grocery store in my little swath of the Midwest was packed full of fans waiting for a local-grown but widely-known celebrity to sign bottles of his current venture. There was organized chaos, there was pandemonium, there were angry people who didn’t get what they wanted. but there were also a great many people practicing a great deal of patience while they waited to see this actor known for being a superhero.

But for the regular customers who usually shopped at the store, they also had to exhibit a great deal of patience and adjust their own schedules to compensate for this event as well. Some came in the afternoon whereas others showed up the next day. Some came while the event was going on, lamenting their frustrations and impatience with having to dodge the crowds and chaos to get their usual staples. But a few enjoyed the spectacle as they grabbed their milk, bread and eggs, giving everyone they met a little of their patience even as it took them a little more time to get through the extraordinary.

Sometimes, it takes a little time and a lot of patience to get what we want. As they say… good things come to those who wait.

Patience is defined as the ability to tolerate or accept suffering, delay or troubles without getting angry or upset. It is a continuance of something despite difficulties. It’s an acceptance of things that can happen, might happen, or may never happen. It’s perseverance and persistence despite the contrary. It’s indefatigable endurance in the face of oppression. It’s accepting people despite their differences. It’s learning to gain the wisdom when to accept things as they are or when to change things as they come.

But having patience can be something negative. When we hold on to patience and keep the status quo despite the feelings of hopelessness and powerless we feel, that is negative patience. When we passively wait for things to change despite opportunities passing us by the meantime, that is negative patience. When we remain in toxic relationships and in toxic environments because we are resignedly waiting for something to change, that is negative patience. The trick is learning when to be passively patient and when to be actively patient.

Some say that patience is one of the most sought after virtues (that is not really a virtue), but one of the hardest fruits to cultivate in our lives. I’ll admit it something I still struggle with. I can be patient to a point. I can have patience for some things. And yet, I find myself becoming impatient at certain times and with certain people. It’s difficult to keep patience when the world around me is overstimulating and I’m trying to get things done despite frustrations. It’s hard to be patient when I am overtly tired, or hungry, or in pain.

Patience takes work. That’s the enduring part of it. It’s learning to keep going, despite the naysayers. It’s learning to keep our eyes on our goals, or dreams, the challenge ahead even when the world around us seeks to knock us down.

Sometimes, we just got to give it a bit of time.

If we are to make this world a better place, we need to not only be passively patient and wait for the good things to come to us, but we also need to put in the time, effort, and determination that patience can foster to work on bettering ourselves so that we can better the world around us. We need to find the magic that can be found in time so that we can be the light, the love, the hope, the peace, and faith this world needs.

It takes a little time. Sometimes, it takes a bit more time.

Be patient. But not complacent.

Give it time.

Stay magical.

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