The Power Of Patience
We typically think of patience as a quality that we employ on an as needed basis. We are in a hurry at the grocery store, but the line is long, so we take a breath and practice patience. Similarly, if we are interacting with someone who is slower than we are-a child or an elderly person-we try to slow ourselves down and be patient with that person. But another way to think about patience is as an all-pervasive force at our disposal, something we can practice continually in relation to the bigger picture.
Patience means being centered in our bodies. When you are in a hurry, you can almost feel that your energy is dislocated, as if it's reaching forward out of your body trying to get to your desired goal. It's a very unbalancing feeling, and causes us to make mistakes and be clumsy in the world. We may go through an entire day feeling this way and never realize that impatience is at the root of the situation. We may also go through our whole lives this way, never quite fully inhabiting the moment. When we become overly goal-oriented or future-oriented, consciously practicing patience is just the thing to return us to our bodies and our immediate lives. We can begin by taking time each day just to be still, observing our thoughts and desires without acting on them or following them. We simply let them arise and disappear as we remain seated and centered.
More than just an attribute to be cultivated, patience is an energetic experience. While it may seem mild or tepid as a concept, the actual experience of patience is quite powerful. When you are patient, when you resist reaching out to grab the first thing you think you want, when you are able to sit still and simply observe without reacting, you begin to see the world more fully and clearly. You become capable of acting more consciously. You become more attuned to the openings and closings and more able to see when to move forward and when to be still. And most importantly, you discover the deep, quiet power of the experience of patience.
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