Thursday, April 22, 2010

Patience

My husband tells me that I am impatient. I don’t know where he gets that idea from. (I’m kidding about that.) When I get something in my head I can be pretty single-minded until I’ve made it happen. That ability to focus has served me well many times, but it can also limit my ability to create good things if I get too intent on one single outcome.

The more years I spend on this earth, the more I realize the importance of letting go, to allow space for the as-yet-unseen possibilities that are part of perfect and divine order to come in to my life. I appreciate the value of being single-minded in envisioning that my life is created for good, but I can be more flexible about just how that good is going to come about. Surely I have some ideas about how I’d like to experience my life, but the quiet voice of the God within me whispers of truths that I just don’t hear when I’m heaven-bent on trying to control my path.

I love the writings of Jon Kabat-Zinn on mindfulness. In his book, “Wherever You Go There You Are,” in a chapter on patience, he says that “patience is remembering that things unfold in their own time. The seasons cannot be hurried. Spring comes, the grass grows by itself.” The seasons of our lives will also come, and we will grow toward the light as we must.

Ultimately, I know that there is no need to hurry things. One of my favorite sayings to remember is that the outcome is never in question. We are going to end up where we need to be. I have found that whether I choose to spend my time striving and wanting, or in deciding and then letting it be, the outcome is the same either way. How I feel getting there is very different, though. I’d rather let the “getting there” be done in an energy of peace, and in openness to the miracles that spirit can create when I get out of my own way.

I came upon Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, which was quoted in Kabat-Zinn’s book:

“I exist as I am, that is enough,
If no other in the world be aware I sit content,
And if each and all be aware I sit content.
One world is aware, and by far the largest to me, and that
is myself,
And whether I come to my own today or in ten thousand
or ten million years,
I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness,
I can wait.”

Eternity is a very long time.  The divine intelligence that lives as us calls forth our best, at the perfect time and in the perfect way.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

2 comments:

  1. Sherry...you've been to my website and asked me to visit yours, so here I am.

    In regards to patience..I too have come to the place where I know and feel, "What's the hurry?"

    We're here for eternity. If we don't get it right today, this week, this year this life time...so what?

    So...I too choose to simply enjoy everyday and choose to be conscious, present, and appreciative with all people, places, experiences, moments and things.

    The more I consciously let go and allow life to be, the more loving, light, inspired and joyful I feel. When I pay attention to how I feel, I tend to take action...I am "inspired" so to speak...

    It takes time and conscious effort to get to this place, but I highly recommend the effort. The "pay off" is quite lovely.

    Thanks for your comments on our site of "Good.Good. Good. Vibrations"

    Lotsa Love and Encouragement,

    Liz

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  2. What is your greatest strength? Our greatest strength can cause significant heartaches. We all share the same qualities, but there is one predominate quality in each of us. Because our greatest strength causes us so many problems, we try to hide it, rather than allowing it to work for us. What is your greatest gift?

    People with the gift of patience may feel more impatient than most and become convinced that they are not patient. A person who has failed many times may believe that they are not ambitious enough. What appears to be our biggest downfall in life can become our greatest asset. What makes us feel the most inadequate and vulnerable, is often our greatest quality, misunderstood.

    Focus on what you want, and then utilize your greatest strength, by developing your best quality. As you develop your predominate quality, you develop lesser qualities, making anything possible!

    ReplyDelete