“We trust the process because it’s impossible to force the process.” — Susan J Hilger
You may hear these words when you’re feeling anxious about reaching the completion of a goal or creative project. And you may ask youself why you should have faith in these words. Trust the process means you need to have faith in the unknown, that’s just so challenging sometimes.
But do you have a choice? The process is the task or undertaking that’s required to get to where you want to go. And you probably have learned a time or two that there is no rushing it, forcing it, or pushing it into a corner. Any time we try to rush things out of our impatience, we find ourselves disappointed. We are unhappy with the end product and now we’re frustrated with outselves for not believing in the actual exercise needed to achieve our desired results.
This morning I stepped in my own mess trying to rush this article, hoping I would hurry and clearly make my point before a scheduled meeting. Instead of waiting, trusting that I needed to let my ideas swoosh around and let the words come to me, I slapped a bunch of words on the page. I forced the process instead of enjoying the culmination of ideas to create a cohesive message.
I know some of these burning questions can make us feel nuts. So often this ‘process’ is a huge life change or a promising life transition and you may be afraid to screw it up. There is usually some risk, and there are no guarantees in any of it making it a little bit scary.
And this is where the joy is, in your journey. It’s not in the end result, it’s in all the steps you take to get there. It is, and if you have followed along with me for very long, you know that I know this.
Sometimes you will get caught up in a need for immediate gratification and you’re likely to relearn old lessons. There rarely is a shortcut that adds value to our projects and goals, it takes all of the time and energy and attention that it takes.
The beauty of your dream lies in the work you do along the way, and in order to enjoy the end, you will need to take pleasure in the middle.
So for today, trust yourself and please trust the process.