Hi loves!
This post is going to be a little shorter than usual. Life has gotten busy between work, running this blog, and another project I'm working on, so I decided to not do a super deep dive today. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all the things in my life (& thankfully my ADHD lets me multi-manage), but it's definitely a lot to balance.
With all these different projects and tasks, I've gotten very familiar with some not fun feelings. A sense of failure and disappointment when something doesn't land the way I was hoping. Stress about not having enough hours in the day to do all the things I need/want to do. Discouragement and feeling overwhelmed by the disconnect with where I am versus where I want to be.
And impatience. I am struggling with tons of impatience.
It's funny, because I was once a 'trust the process' person who enjoyed the journey and the hard work before seeing the end result. But the older I've gotten, the more I've noticed my impatience and frustration with feeling 'stuck'.
I'm sure there's a few reasons for this. The over-abudance of online comparison with people my age or younger who have achieved more "seemingly overnight". An irrational fear about not accomplishing all the things I want to do in my life, maybe? Or perhaps it's just a result of hustle culture crescendoing to unhealthy levels in the world.
Regardless of what it is, my impatience with the time and work I have to put into each project is something I've been working on. Some days I can get lost in the process and enjoy what I'm doing just because I'm doing it. Other times I get imposter syndrome, tell myself this is a waste of time, and/or fall victim to the crippling fear that this whole endeavor will blow up in my face.
Maybe it will, but maybe it won't.
I think it's easy to fall into the negative thinking, impatience, and fear when we forget why we're doing something. I know this is true for myself. The times I've lost sight of my priorities are the times when I'm stressed and anxious even when I'm working on something I love.
But when my focus is only on doing my best and creating something just for me and the sheer fact that I enjoy it, I notice the motivation that started this process in the first place quickly returns.
Not worrying about a project/blog/idea/whatever making money or creating an 'impact' has the same result of people wanting to genuinely meet new people. Those people don't put on airs to seem like the coolest, most impressive or funniest person in the room. They're just themselves, have fun in the moment, and accomplished what they set off to do regardless of if others found them 'amazing' or not.
And usually, those people are the ones that others admire and enjoy spending time with most. Not for any false trait, but because they were genuinely themselves.
In the same way, creating or working on something just because it's important to you and you enjoy doing it is far more fulfilling than doing something and stressing that it's not getting enough traction or going viral or whatever the latest trendy buzzword is.
It can be hard to slow down and focus on the present. To get lost in what you're doing or remembering why you're doing it in the first place. And it's always a challenge to see others succeeding 'overnight' while you're failing after months or years of work.
But overnight successes are rarely overnight. And if they are, they don't ever last.
Because the ones that require the most work and care have heart in them. They're a part of you and reflect the joy you had in working on it in the first place.
So hold on and stay strong. Whatever you're working toward might not come in a snap of your fingers, but the end result you waited for will far exceed your wildest dreams.
"So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up." - Galatians 6:9
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