Patience...Learning to Sit in the Stillness

I’m honest, patience has never come naturally to me. I’m a go-go-go, keep-swimming, forward-motion kind of gal. So finding myself in a season where I’m being asked to wait, to pause, to be still—it feels very unfamiliar. For the first time in my life, I don’t have a new goal or project in the works. And truthfully? It’s unnerving.

In a conversation with a friend recently, we uncovered this idea: patience is really a form of waiting. Think about what we wait for—babies, birthdays, Christmas, trains. Waiting usually comes with anticipation, uncertainty, even the desire to rush time forward just to get to the “thing.” When we don’t know what’s coming, the uncertainty can feel like anxiety in disguise.

Goals = predictability = certainty = control.

So when there are no goals and no certainties, it’s no wonder we feel restless. Add to that our culture’s obsession with “bigger, better, faster”—and patience becomes even more of a challenge.

Jungian analyst James Hollis offers this reflection:

“If you wait upon the silence, it ultimately speaks; if you wait upon the darkness, it illumines.”

His words remind us that quiet reflection and even periods of darkness are not empty—they are full of wisdom, if we can endure them. When we embrace the non-doing, the silence, the uncertainty, we create space for deeper connection with ourSelves. The stillness is not a void but a vessel—holding clarity, resilience, and insight if we are willing to wait and listen.

The question is: can we persevere through the “dark wood” of uncertainty long enough to receive its gifts?

Here’s what I’m learning: patience isn’t passive. It’s not laziness or procrastination. It’s the practice of slowing down enough to discern, rather than leaping impulsively. It’s trusting intuition and the right fit, instead of bending ourselves into pretzels to force something that isn’t meant for us.

Being patient invites us to simply be—to notice life as it unfolds, to breathe, to trust the process and ourselves. As Jack Kornfield reminded me this morning, patience is taken one breath at a time, one step at a time. That’s how the journey builds itself.

Journal Prompts for Cultivating Patience

• When I notice myself feeling restless or impatient, what sensations show up in my body? Where do I feel them?

  
  

• What situations in my life right now are inviting me to slow down and wait?

  
  

• How do I usually respond to uncertainty—do I try to control it, avoid it, or sit with it?

  
  

• What does “trusting the process” mean to me personally?

  
  

• Can I recall a time in my life when waiting led to something beautiful or unexpected? What did I learn from that?

  
  

• If I wasn’t focused on the future, what small details of today would I be able to notice and appreciate?

  
  

• What might patience be teaching me about myself in this current season?

  
  

Closing Note

May this season of waiting offer you small moments of peace, trust, and self-discovery. Remember—patience is not about doing nothing, but about allowing life to unfold in its own time. May you find comfort in each breath, in each step, and in the quiet wisdom of simply being.

With warmth,Kristi 🌸