Not a common phrase amidst our to do list, objectives, and dreams The words – working things through – sound “heavy” not “light”. They generate a feeling of being slower than fast. Never avoiding a challenge but with less excitement when heard. Especially when we state goals as if they can magically appear without much effort.
I find these words much more accurate in describing life and the outcomes we strive for. Never finding quick answers frustrate many. For they find only great inertia by not understanding the process.
Working things through is the most descriptive way to descibe our adult lives. For life ebbs and flows, like a river twisting about throughout the countryside. Life never travels in a straight line.
On many levels, working things through is the only approach that works when filled with grit, persistence, hope, and vision. Even with these things, we stumble more times than we sprint. Confusion, distraction, uncertainty, fear, lack of discipline, or even lack of knowledge confirm that not much happens in an instant.
Imposing our will on a situation or person dies from its inability to adjust to the feedback its given. Taking a seductive shortcut pushes us back further from our goal. Why even our interest dissipates over time when we tire of trying to work things through.
Because we ourselves are full of imperfection, an attitude of working things through spends less time worrying exactly how things will look in the end. Understanding that the journey, as it unfolds, will help us paint the final picture of each path taken. For life will always bend and distort the outcome in ways that may surprise as well as disappoint us.
Believing in working things through helps keep us from running away from opportunities that are disguised as challenges. Knowing that everything takes time for things to appear. Inspired by the cook who starts early in order for their prepared meal to be memorable.