In trying to manifest our heart’s desire, one of the biggest lessons is patience. I get it. I would like to include a chapter in my book that says, “I have waited all of my life to learn the art of patience.” The problem is that I don’t believe that the issue is necessarily about being impatient. For most of us, the struggle is in the ‘allowing’ part of the manifestation process. We get in the way of the divine plan which blocks the path to progress. It is not our intention to sabotage plans; maybe this lesson is really teaching us to get out of our own way so we can allow the unfolding of our desires, rather than struggling as we attempt to make everything happen.

When asking for something, sometimes there is a lag between our desire and the actual creation of it. That lag is called time. The flaw falls in the concept of linear time and the perception that says everything has to be about the present and we operate solely in the moment of right here and right now. Doesn’t it make sense that we would plant seeds and then tend to them before expecting the fruit of our labors to begin to sprout?

As impatience sets in, we begin to sprout seeds of panic and doubt. The more time goes on without the manifestation of desired results, we feel as if we are left dangling, hanging in the balance. When the mind senses pain or thinks that we may get hurt, this instigates a sense of urgency, the intellect steps in, producing a chain-like reaction of fear, triggering doubts. And when we do not get something that we want, we begin to question everything… hey wait a minute…? And the mind steps in to do its all too frequent routine of self-deception and sabotage.

We don’t always allow the unfolding of our desires; instead we feel the need to make them happen. So we take over control, trying to manipulate things into what we think everything is supposed to look like based on our expectations. The mind fills in the blanks with assumptions, trying to interpret what is happening, searching for answers as it operates solely on the ‘need-to-know’ basis. If it’s something we don’t know, the mind goes on a mission in order to figure it all out.

The key word here is ‘think.’ Usually this means there is a block to the unconscious, not what is conscious… heck we already know what we are thinking but it is the ‘thinking’ part that gets us into trouble. What we are conscious of is exactly what we are attempting to control as we do not see our expectations coming to life. Fear now steps into high gear commencing from the need-to-know basis as we now enter into a new realm of this madness… the need-to-control, as the mind intellectually reasons that an event feels eerily familiar to something negative that has happened from the past, which is going to hurt us in the present moment.

“If knowledge is power, and power corrupts, and corruption is crime, and crime doesn’t pay… Does knowledge, in the end, leave you broke?” Whoa Nelly… look at that, a slippery slope. Are you seeing how this works?

Instead of patience and trusting endeavors to unfold, we create assumptions, drama, stress, and possibly even make hasty decisions, none of which may have been manifested from the original goal but from our need for instant gratification. We put structure onto things so that we can understand them. If we are not getting the answers we want, we create them. We create them from habit. We create from our interpretation of what every one should be doing or what everyone should have. Sometimes we create out of boredom or because we feel helpless by not doing enough because something feels a lot better to justify than nothing. As long as we have something tangible, we believe that our needs are met and we can be happy.

But instant gratification is exactly what it says that it is… instant. And just like fire, it burns hot and heavy and quickly blows out, because there is no water, no emotional substance to sustain the burning flames from consuming everything in its path. Instant gratification stems from winning and competition, or the need to control situations and relationships that are not coming together quite the way we had hoped. It is easy to see how we have lost the path of cherishing that which is valuable and meaningful to us when we are barely able to keep our heads above water so that we don’t drown; and yet, it’s the fear of drowning that creates the doubt and deception, rather than allowing us to be patient to allow the natural growth of our experience.

Recognize that gratification can only fill the gaps; but those gaps reveal our fears, showing us that we are separated from our source of love and our source of desires. Dig deeper to confront those truths to expose the masks. Shine that conscious spotlight on anything that remains stagnant in denial or stuck in the patterns of instant gratification. Go deeper to empower choices with real meaning by connecting to what we love so there is no need-to-know or no need-to-control anything. As we are empowered by our accomplishments, we feel confident, rather than that needy feeling, which is ultimately what drives us to those temporary fixes. The only thing we need to know is how to trust in our own hearts and we can find so much more than gratification. We find our dreams as we align to them, not living in a state of lack or disconnect but residing in a state of rejoice. This is the path to true indulgence.

So go ahead and enjoy the nectar of life by savoring every delicious bite along the way. What are you waiting for? Take a bite and see what sweetness life truly has to offer you.