Do you know Frog and Toad?

They are *wonderful* anthropomorphic children’s story characters (but really, these stories are for adults).

In a story titled “The Garden,” Toad comes to visit Frog one day, and sees his glorious and abundant garden. My goodness! he exclaims, I wish I could have a garden like this! 

Frog says: it’s hard work. But you can do it. He offers Toad some seeds, and says: plant these in the ground, and soon you will have a garden just like me.

How soon? Asks Toad.
Soon. Reassures Frog.

So Toad goes home and prepares the soil. He plants the seeds. He waters them. But he quickly grows impatient. And frustrated! In the few hours since he has planted his seeds, they have not grown!

He grows more impatient and frustrated. To the point that he begins yelling at his seeds: NOW SEEDS, START GROWING!

Frog happens by to check on his friend, who hears Toad yelling at his garden. He suggests nurturing the seeds, because now they are frightened! So Toad reads a story to them. He sings to them. He tries poems. Plays the violin.

Worried he has traumatized his seeds, and very weary from all the hard work, Toad decides to take a nap.

Frog awakens him, and points out that his seeds have finally, indeed, sprouted. 

This parable is about your inner garden.

Your garden requires some important elements: earth, sun, water, warmth. And patience. 

Let me be clear… Patience is not just waiting around for something to happen. Or surrendering to an eternity of time to manifest your dreams.

Patience is planting the seeds of your intention in a container of timelessness to nurture your garden. I call this sacred patience.

It is, without a doubt, one of the most important lessons I have ever learned as a creative, singer, mother, teacher, coach, entrepreneur, and curious human being.

Having sacred patience is to allow the unfolding of your dreams and desires without measuring the time, having complete trust in the process, and the ultimate manifestation of a fruitful outcome.

The lesson is to know that the timing of the unfolding of your dreams is not going to demand this many hours, days, or years. Because sometimes, our intentions really do manifest in the blink of an eye. (There is no divine ticking clock over our heads!)

And yet at other times, we must allow for the unfoldment of creation. We need time for integration. There may be wisdom to gain, or knowledge to acquire. There are relationships to establish. Or, most often, there is a lesson to learn.

And sometimes, there is a divine plan for you, and it’s simply not time yet.

Our fast-paced, instant-gratification, mercurial-minded muscles are well-honed. We are not interested in waiting around for results if it comes at the expense of a long, drawn-out, endless process.

But your garden is precious. It contains seeds that are sacred: a beautiful life, a beautiful voice, a beautiful work, a beautiful experience, a beautiful vision. 

Try not to rush it. Observe it. But please don’t yell at it! Allow it. Open your heart to its tending. Let go of the impulse to rush, and recognize that time is a thief of the living joy of discovery.

While you do, the fruits that your garden will yield will be more beautiful than you could possibly have intended.

Guided Prompts for Sacred Patience

Take a moment to breathe, center awareness within the heart space, and enter into a state of stillness.  Allow these questions to guide your higher mind into clarity.

What are some precious intentions that you have planted in your garden?

How have you tended your intentions? Have you been patient, or impatient?

How would you like to feel as you manifest your intentions?

What does sacred patience mean to you, as it applies to your own garden?

Can you allow a sense of timelessness to support your intentions? 
 

A Prayer for Patience

Dear God,
Help me to be still. Help me to be peaceful. Help me to accept patience.
I plant the seeds of my desires in divine soil.
Help me to sow faith in my own precious garden.
Help me to nurture my intentions with love and reverence.
May they be blessed by you.
Help me to relinquish the energy of pushing, and embrace the spirit of allowing.
I entrust the fulfillment of my desires to you, as I surrender the process of their unfolding.
I pray that I may embrace true patience, with the knowledge that all is possible in the field of your infinite potential. 
Help me to become timeless.
Help me to trust.
Help me to embrace the process of growth in all its stages, for the benefit of my unfolding.
May my intentions be held in love, and breathed on by your Holy Spirit.
May they serve my highest good, and the betterment of the world.
And so it is. Amen.

Allison