There are no shortcuts on the spiritual path. The journey to wholeness takes a lifetime ~ Find Your Way Home, Women of Magdelene with Becca Stevens

The first time I read this line I darn near cried at my desk. Now, for those of you who know me, crying at work is something I just don’t do, especially if I can help it.

But in this instance, I could hardly keep my eyes dry.

See, just the day before, I’d been going through old journals to assess my emotional and inner health. I turned page after page–jumping from month to month–only to learn that  I had indeed grown a little wiser. Yes, despite those days where I felt like nothing had changed, I could now look back and see that change was occurring–just not at the pace I expected it too.

As I breezed through the pages, tallying up the time it took to resolve each issue, I heard myself saying now, you know better than that or what on earth were you thinking that time or how long do you have to write this down before you learn it?

Closing the journals, I decided I had to “get on the ball” with this whole “wholeness” thing and make it happen once and for all. If I didn’t, life would just pass me by, right? Wrong.

In life there are no shortcuts. Stunting or aborting the time or process required to heal, learn a lesson or grow in love is the sure-fire way to prolong your circumstance. You could even make matters worse–yours truly did that a few times.

This wonderful phrase reminded me that the journey or path to wholeness is lifelong. It’s not something you can force, will to happen or cram for like a final exam. The journey is about learning to love yourself in the face of your flaws. It’s about acceptance, forgiveness and patience.

So, the next time you think you’re not where you should be or that you haven’t come as far as you’d hoped, remember the journey to wholeness and inner freedom takes time. You deserve that much. Don’t you agree?