In this age of rapid fire frenzy, slow is becoming obsolete. Snail mail? Ha. You don’t even have to wait until you get home to send an email. Just do it from your smart phone. Better yet, text. Patience is considered a virtue, probably because it can be such a challenge. Especially in this age of technological advancement, when it’s all about instant gratification. Granted, seasons still take their time to change. Traffic persists. But we are not exactly watching bread rise these days. I wonder–now that we require less patience, do we have less patience?
Despite our hyper-speed society, your spiritual life remains a perfect place to practice the lost art of patience. Waiting in line needn’t be a drag. You can make it an awakening. Spirit has a way of showing up in stillness. Next time you are stuck at airport baggage check-in, check in with yourself. Become aware not just of your surroundings, but of your inner experience. Are you anxious? Over-thinking? Confused? See if you can calm your mind and relax. “Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?” –Lao Tzu
If you’re an athlete, you can appreciate the difference between a run on the treadmill and a yoga class. Coming straight from the rat race, a yoga studio feels strikingly serene. You might be antsy for some rigorous movement, and wouldn’t you know it? Once you finally get going, you are expected to hold a pose for what seems like days. It’s a definite shift, physically and psychologically. But as famed yoga teacher Baron Baptiste reminds us, “If you try to force a rose to blossom, you break off the petals.”
One can’t help but internalize the mad rush now and then. Yet, as nature teaches, it is often best to let things unfold in their own good time. “Patience and passage of time do more than strength and fury.” ~Jean de la Fontaine.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Feel free to leave a comment. If you have the patience.
I work from home, which means never being a 100% away from technology and demands. I go outside once a day and sit on my garden wall, no phones, no emails, and just listen to the bees buzz and the birds tweet.
And as beautiful and serene as that is, part of me screams, “There is no time, hurry, hurry, get the phone, check Facebook, go, go, go!”
Yes, the less patience you practice, the less you have. Gotta go! 🙂
Candy- thanks so much. Your comments resonate with me and I'm sure many others out there. We are with you! It's so cool that you still take the time to get outside even when you are super busy. I bet you are infinitely more productive at your computer on days when you do take that nature break.
Funny, it definitely takes patience to sit still and listen to bees buzz. But I find that nothing takes more patience than my darn computer! 🙂
Funny, but while reading your post a scene that I happened to see one day came to my mind – a little girl trying to get into a package of chips while still at a store, keep saying “But I want it now! But I want it now”, and her mom trying to explain her that she can have it, but later 🙂
Yes Faith, I agree, patience is a virtue, and I think yes, since we require less patience, we have it less.
I’ve been in US few years now, (I’m from Poland – that’s for other bloggers :-)) going back and forth, and I can see the difference between the speed of life here, and in my country. And being here I’ve realized that I myself have become less patient, sometimes with little things. So what I’ve started doing lately is I’m getting up way before I actually have to, sometimes 3hours ahead to have ‘my time’, yes, to sit outside, drink some coffee and listen to birds tweeting. And I like when I can say ‘Ok, I can go now’, instead of ‘Ok, I have to go now’.
Though, the biggest challenge for me if it goes about patience is … when I’m on the road! Then, the only thing I keep saying is: “Heaven, help!” 🙂
I like the quote you put in your post “Patience and passage of time …” Patience vs. fury. We all know that.
I also would like to share some quote about patience with you: “Patience with others is Love, Patience with self is Hope, Patience with God is Faith. – Adel Bestavros.
Hope Faith, you like that 🙂
Teresa~
What a wonderful quote! I will contemplate it further, as it says so much in so few words. And thanks for the great insights from you, as well. I agree with the intention to allow extra time so there is an opportunity to slow down. It's hard to have patience when it's “rush, rush, rush!”
Ahhh, deep breath…:),
Faith
This was a wonderful post. I was just sitting here talking myself out of over analyzing a conversation with my boss, and finding the gratitude in my situation. Thank you for such a lovely post.
What an inspiring example. Thank you for sharing. Way to turn it around! Wouldn't it be fantastic if we related to difficulty like that all the time, finding the gratitude and letting go? Something to aspire to. Good for you!
This was a wonderful post. I was just sitting here talking myself out of over analyzing a conversation with my boss, and finding the gratitude in my situation. Thank you for such a lovely post.
What an inspiring example. Thank you for sharing. Way to turn it around! Wouldn't it be fantastic if we related to difficulty like that all the time, finding the gratitude and letting go? Something to aspire to. Good for you!
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