My husband Lee and I recently planted a fall garden. We want to eat fresh, healthy, organic food, so what better way than growing our own vegetables? With broccoli, kale, Swiss chard, spinach, beets, carrots and peas coming up, we're looking forward to a bounty of nutritious food in the months to come.

Before planting them, we soaked the seeds in water overnight, which accelerates the germination time. Still, it took days before the little sprouts broke through the surface of the ground. And checking on them daily, I was able to discern only the tiniest amount of growth.

For the plants to develop the vegetables we eventually want to harvest, the right balance of sun and moisture are required. But another key ingredient is also needed: TIME.

No amount of rushing around, pushing or fretting will cause these vegetables to grow faster. No, the process of gardening, like many other endeavors in life, requires PATIENCE.

In these times of instant gratification, where you can order what you want with the click of a button, we've become a society of impatient people who don't want to have to wait...for anything.

The desire to move fast and have something NOW is seen everywhere…

- The driver behind you at the stoplight, who expects you to accelerate the instant the light turns green, and honks at you if you don’t

- The person in a check-out line who’s constantly switching lines and glancing around to see if another line is moving faster

- The colleague teaching you to use a piece of equipment, software, or other tool and getting annoyed when you don’t master it as quickly as he or she did

- The parents who have a young child they're pushing to walk, talk or learn some other skill earlier than the children of their friends

The art of waiting for good things to come seems to be disappearing in place of a demand for immediate results.

I'm all in favor of taking initiative and making things happen.

But there are times when you’ve done everything you can, and you simply have to wait for time to work its magic.

You CAN'T do any more, and in fact, you can cause problems if you continue to push or try to take control of the situation.

If you find yourself getting upset because things aren’t going the way you’d hoped, take a moment to pause and ask yourself this important question:


If the answer is yes, then do it. But if it’s no, then you need to get to a place of acceptance as quickly as possible. You may in fact need to take action, but not NOW. Waiting for the right time is a critical aspect of patience.

You’ll save yourself a lot of frustration and disappointment if you learn to manage your expectations. When you adjust your perspective, you’ll be more serene in the face of circumstances that are beyond your control.