Creating new habits takes time and patience.  We’d all like to find that magic pill, or flip a switch and instantly have things be better.  Well unfortunately not much in life works that way. The choices we’ve made have gotten us this far, our new choices will continue to reinforce new habits.  The patience and persistence we demonstrate in the process will help give us the results we’re looking for.

There were two farmers that lived across the road from each other, who were always in heated competition to see who could produce the better crops.  One year they both decided to plant corn.  As the new crop began poking up out of the ground, both farmers watched anxiously, hoping their crop would be the best. They watered, fertilized and waited. Farmer A began to see that his corn wasn’t growing quite as fast as his neighbor’s.  He began to get concerned that his crop was not going to be as good, because it wasn’t as tall.  (only a 3 inches up, while Farmer B’s crop was already 5 inches tall!)  So here’s what he decided to do… In the dead of night, Farmer A went out into his field, and pulled each of his corn stalks up to 5 inches.  Now his crop would be the same as his neighbor’s.

Who do you think harvested corn!

As you are in the process of identifying your stressors and changing habits, remember that time and patience will help you reach your goals of a lower-stress life.