Trust the process
I am currently in the final weeks of high school facing the exams in about 4 weeks. 13 years of school are about to end. School was always the default for my life. It seemed like it would never end and it felt like a chore. But it does end and that pretty soon. I always wished school to end, to move on with life, experience new things. I dreaded school and the compulsion associated with it. The friction I burdened myself with made school all the more difficult making me dread school even more. But as I submitted myself to the process, accepting that the outside circumstance doesn´t care about my feelings, the friction faded away. Almost all worthwhile endeavours either have no destination or take a lot of time to reach the destination. The journey is the destination. If we don´t accept this simple principle we load ourselves with unnecessary friction. It is like swimming against the current. But when we submit to the flow of life removing friction and cherishing every moment along the way we become joyful and free from friction.
Who walks further, the person who likes walking or the person who likes the destination?
In many endeavours does progress get revealed further along the road. We may not see results immediately but this doesn´t mean there are no results at all. I recently thought about the things I have learned in school. I had realized in school everything was part of a process. Everything stacked upon each other building up to the most difficult things at the top. This is an underlying process which we have to trust and submit ourselves to. There is no shortcut to it.
When building a skyscraper, you have to start with the foundation, the basics. The foundation is essential for the result at the end. There is no shortcut to building a skyscraper because it would collapse if you had skipped the foundation. The process requires diligence and commitment and if you are willing to offer yourself to the process a skyscraper arises.
Have you ever built with Legos? If so you will know that for each set you will get handed the instructions how to build the respecting model. This also involves trusting the process because if you decide to abandon the laid-out path you might get to a destination but not the destination. This equals more or less a flow state where you don´t consciously think but let your subconscious guide you. The process will take care of it self and we have little to add. Any interference with the process might just cause friction taking away from the end result.
In life there is one eternal constant: Time. Time the ever-important ingredient in any endeavour. Time always ticks, we get older every second and time slips through our fingers never returning vanishing into the void of the past.
There is nothing besides the current, present, moment. The past has vanished into an infinite void, never returning, and the future is not yet real, maybe never even happening at all. If we don´t do it now there is no certainty we will do it ever. Embrace every second, every bit of time takes presents itself to you holding it as hard as you can and giving it away without grief. If we do not enjoy the process we literally gamble that we live to experience the uncertain future in order to experience the fleeting joy which we associate with reaching our goal. It is therefore silly to not find processes and journeys which make us fulfilled along the way.
To embrace the process to the fullest you have to find a process you enjoy, which is worthwhile doing, set goals towards enjoying the process and practice patience.
“Getting famous is great, being famous is a mixed bag and losing fame is terrible.” - Will Smith
A lot of successful people say it isn´t as pleasurable to be successful instead the pursuit of success is the most pleasurable thing. Success takes time and effort to achieve and success should give us happiness not take it from us. So, focus on the journey make it as fulfilling as possible rather than sacrificing your happiness for a goal. In the end humans become bored with what they have and we always strive towards new things. Deep down we want something to strive for and a process we can submit ourselves to. We are never satisfied and we never should be. Dissatisfaction is the motor for change and the fuel on our journey. We will always be travelling some kind of road. Why not make this journey as pleasing as possible?
“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” – Aristoteles
There is no shortcut to the process. It may take years, decades to lead to a destination. Without patients we will lose ourselves questioning why we took this journey in the first place. Maybe even destroying the prospect of success with inpatients. Life is a marathon and not a sprint.
Remember, life rewards the prepared.
