Chapter Three + Pace
The process of getting through your twenties can’t be thought of as a speedy process. You won’t get where you need to be financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically or mentally overnight. You have to understand that it’s all a process. It takes time. How long doesn’t matter, what matters is that you never give up on yourself. You also have to remember not to look at those around you and compare their success and blessings to your own. That’s the worst thing you can do to yourself.
You can’t look at other people’s clock and how it fast it ticks and expect yours to tick at the same speed. Your clock ticks perfectly for what is in store for YOUR life. That is a very important factor. You can’t compare your progress to those around you. You are competing with no one. You are on your journey to becoming a better you. You have to pace your life and pace yourself. This process needs to be thought of as the crockpot method not the microwave method.
It's A Process
You’re hungry and you want something quick so you grab yourself a pack of Ramon Noodles or some left overs. You pop them in the microwave and you’re eating in minutes. You are satisfied, but in less than thirty minutes to an hour you’re hungry again so you repeat that same process over again.
Now think about cooking something of substance. When you are cooking a meal in a crockpot you know that it’s going to take a while. You know this before you even start, but you trust the process because once it’s done you know it’s going to be worth the wait. Once that food hits those taste buds it’s on and popping.
You can see yourself doing your happy dance while smashing your food. During the process you get a little antsy, your stomach starts to growl a little harder than before because you’re hungry. You are ready to chow down. You can taste it, but you continue to wait. You are patient because you know it takes time. You are that food in the crockpot. You didn’t come ready made and you’re definitely not minute made. Becoming you takes time. Becoming who God designed you to be takes time. You are slow cooking yourself every day.
Start NOW
A very amazing friend of mine gave me some incredible advice while talking on the phone one day. He said, “There is no greater time to start than now. Now is the time to prepare yourself for your thirties. Whatever it is you want to do in life, NOW is when you need to start. You don’t want to look back five years from now wishing you had put forth action to get where you want to be.”
That stuck with me like gorilla glue. It hit home hard because there were so many ideas that I had in my head of things I wanted to do. So many thoughts and visions that I had for my life that I had not even allowed to touch the surface. They were just there. I would think of them quite often and the vision would grow each time, but I never moved on them. I sat still so my great ideas sat still with me.
It wasn’t until that very conversation that I decided to start now. I decided to stop wasting time. I realized that years had already gone by and I still hadn’t done a lot of the things I said I would. It ended that day. I remembered that “anything lost can be found or gained except time wasted.” You can never get back time. No matter how hard you try. Once it’s gone, it is just that; gone! We talked and he hyped me up. He was more excited about everything than I was. He spoke life into my vision so passionately. More passionately than anyone had ever done so, and I decided to just do it. I went for it. At that very moment I started. Author: Antionette Turner Book: Ready to Be 30 Website: www.readytobe30.com