When you live with anxiety, trusting the process can feel almost impossible. Being patient is hard, too.
One of the things that often eases anxiety is certainty. When we know what’s coming, our minds relax. We can prepare. We feel more in control. Anxiety, at its core, is often the fear of the unknown.
So when someone says, “Just trust the process,” “Be patient,” or “Let go and let God,” those words can actually create more anxiety. They ask us to surrender the very thing our anxious minds are desperately trying to hold onto—control.
So what do we do?
We take it one step at a time.
We create lives filled with people, places, and rhythms that bring us peace. We build environments where our nervous systems can finally exhale. For me, that’s quiet mornings with coffee, watercolor paints spread across the table, my family, and yes…my animals.
In those peaceful places, we practice.
We practice patience. We practice trusting the process.
Living on our little farm reminds me of this every day. When we first brought home our ducklings, I couldn’t wait for them to grow. Well…part of me could wait. They were adorable, but they also made quite the mess! I wanted them outside where they’d be happier and where the house would smell a little fresher. But I couldn’t rush it. They needed time.
No amount of worrying or wishing could make them grow faster. I simply had to trust that each day they were becoming exactly what they were meant to be.
Life is full of moments like that.
Yet we live in a world that constantly tells us we should have everything immediately. Faster shipping. Faster success. Faster healing. Faster answers. Instant gratification has become the expectation. But maybe what we truly need isn’t more speed. Maybe we need more opportunities to practice patience.
Because every time we practice waiting, we build confidence that we’ll be okay the next time life asks us to wait.
Watercolor painting has become one of my greatest teachers. When I begin a painting, I start with a light sketch. Then I add the first washes of color. And almost every time, there comes a moment when I think…
What if I ruin it?
What if I use too much water?
What if I choose the wrong brush?
What if the client doesn’t like it?
What if I can’t fix this mistake?
For a moment, anxiety wants to take over.
Then I remind myself: Trust the process.
Every watercolor painting goes through an awkward stage. Colors bloom where you don’t expect them. Layers look messy before they become beautiful. The details that bring everything together don’t come until much later. Life is remarkably similar.
Not every season feels beautiful while you’re living it. Not every chapter makes sense in the middle. Sometimes the masterpiece is still drying. So I take a deep breath.
I remember that painting—and life—isn’t about perfection. It’s about the journey. It’s about the quiet moments at the table. The birds outside the window. The cup of coffee beside the paint water. The laughter from another room. The peace that finds you when you stop trying to control every outcome. If one painting doesn’t turn out, it teaches me something for the next one. And more often than not…The painting turns out just fine. So does life. Sometimes it even turns out better than I imagined.
Don’t become so focused on the ending that you miss the middle. The middle is where life happens. The middle is where peace is found.
The middle is where faith grows.
Trust the process.
Practice patience.
Let go and let God.
You may discover that what you’re waiting for isn’t just waiting at the end of the journey…
It’s quietly growing within you all along.
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