Patient with Mistakes

My God is patient as I make the same mistakes over and over. This truth has been one of the hardest to accept because I'm not patient with myself. When I repeat the same error fail in the same way struggle with the same issue again I'm harsh and critical. Why haven't I learned this yet? What's wrong with me? Why can't I get it right?

But my Higher Power doesn't relate to me with that kind of impatience. There's no exasperation no disappointment no withdrawal of love when I stumble again. Just steady presence. Just patient companionship through the learning process however long it takes however many times I need to go through it.

This patience teaches me something important about the nature of growth. Change doesn't happen in straight lines. Learning isn't linear. I don't master something once and never struggle with it again. Recovery is spiral – I come around to the same issues at deeper levels again and again. That's not failure. That's how humans actually grow.

I'm learning to extend to myself the patience my Higher Power extends to me. To recognize that making the same mistake again isn't evidence that I'm hopeless but evidence that I'm human. To trust that patient presence is more transformative than harsh criticism.

Today I can practice patience with myself when I struggle with familiar issues.