Over the past few years, I have been working on myself. It hasn’t been easy. It took some time to understand. I realized I had to be patient with myself. I needed to be patient as I worked through what I was facing. I realized that I had to give myself grace, patience, and kindness. I had to do this while going through the pains of the hard days. Even though nothing was perfect, I knew that eventually things would get better.

It can be easy when things don’t go the way want them to. We often, as autistic people, become irritable. We give up on what we intend to do. Sometimes we think that we need to hold others responsible for the way we feel. It can act like a literal thief in the night. Anxiety can also do this. They can steal what you think you have the ability to do. It can make you want to cave in. You think you can’t do the things you need or have the ability to do. You start to regress back into old ways for what you crave or find safety. For me, I had to realize that I needed to be patient with myself. I needed to get back to doing what I had to do when I backslide. In the end, it gets better when you do that instead of falling into your old ways.

Many times I had fallen into the ways of regressing into ways that I had no business doing. I had to realize that it was better to keep working for the goal. I should not stop when things happen. They are just part of the road. These experiences teach us things we wouldn’t have otherwise known. Yes, there are going to be times when something is going to be too much for you. You will have to step back. There are also the little times when you have to at least try and see. You can make your way to what you need to get done. It can be hard and even scary. You have to be patient with yourselves and others in the process too.

Not everything in our lives can go the way we want it to. Things can happen along the way that can make us change course. We need to be different to get to where we want to go. Challenges can push us back to the point that we are off course. I myself can get irritated when things don’t go according to plan. Still, over the past few years, I have had to accept that we can’t control what happens. Even when we adequately express our concerns, our needs not always be met as we expect. We must be patient with ourselves. As long as we know we are safe and cared for now, that’s what matters. We must wait until our needs are met.

Life is going to bring circumstances that are out of control. These circumstances are going to disturb our plans. Sometimes they will set us back in life. But it is important to remember that we need to have patience with ourselves and others too. Things do have the potential to get better. Goals can be a work in progress to get to the destination we want to reach in our lives.