Back in 2006 I remember Shary, my wonderful therapist, telling me a story that happened to one of her friends that depicts “trust the process” or “non-resistance” to a tee.
Shary grew up in Alvin, Texas in the early 60s. Alvin was known for it’s rice crops back before Houston growth overtook the community. Rice fields had ponds in the middle of the field and looks much like the photo shown here. There are several of these ponds throughout the crops to irrigate the never ending supply of water needed to grow rice.
A few of Shary’s young friends were playing in these fields one summer afternoon. A pair of siblings fell into two of these camouflaged ponds, a brother and sister. The brother whaled around and fell victim to the panic and fear of his human body. The sister however, survived because she did not panic and remained calm and relaxed. She was rescued several hours later.
The moral of this sad story is to “trust the process” and go with the flow. Shary told me this story on a day where I was crying over some horrible circumstance I was going through at the time with my ex over our children. However, I can still hear Shary say in her cute southern accent, “Trust the process.”
What does this mean? Well, to me it means to remain calm and have faith and trust that the truth will bubble up one day. This “circumstance” is just a process I must go through to learn the lesson put before me.
Each of us is confronted with situations and circumstances that cause us discomfort. But to grow we must leave our comfort zone, learn the lesson, and move forward.
This too shall pass my friend. Trust the process and do not struggle or panic so as to create a situation where you drown.
Shary used to tell me “stop the bleeding Kathie. You can only bleed so much for your children or you’ll bleed to death.” Wow, what an eye opener for me and an “ah ha moment”.
Did you ever have a time when you had to trust the process? How did that work for you? Feel free to leave a comment.