“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” - Arnold H. GlasgowWell, with the due date for Baby Thomas past, I thought I'd write about something we need a lot of at the moment. And something a lot of us have very little of these days. It seems to me that the whole world has gone mad, everything is such a rush, and I know from experience that when you rush things mistakes happen.
I haven't always been a patient person, but living on London for 2 years helped me become a lot more patient. When I first got there the public transport system used to raise my stress levels far too much, but after a few months I realized that there was nothing I could do about the late trains, tubes & buses. So I would just pull out my book and read. Why is it that we let things we have no control over stress us out so much? Are we all becoming control freaks? I'd love to read your thoughts on this...
“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.” - St. Francis de Sales
Having learnt a bit of patience when it comes to external matters was relatively easy, being patient with myself was another matter completely. Until recently I hadn't even realize I was being impatient with myself. Thankfully my wife pointed it out to me. I have been reading loads of self development books and wondering why life hasn't changed dramatically. The reason..., I was trying too hard and trying to change too much at once. So, I have stopped reading too many books, I am reading an intensely spiritual book at the moment, which is probably going to take me 2 years to complete, but as I have realized, there is no rush when it comes to living life.
“Patience is necessary, and one cannot reap immediately where one has sown.” - Soren Kierkegaard
When you plant a seed, do you dig it up all the time to see what is going on, to check whether it is growing or not? (If you do, let me know, I'd love to chat to you.) We plant the seed in good soil and water it trusting that it will grow in it's own time. So why don't we trust that life will treat us the same way? I'm not saying we must become lazy and just sit around and wait for things to happen, do what can be done and trust that the results will come at exactly the right time. The minute we become impatient, we become stressful, and when we are stressful we are not in tune with the universe.
“He that can have patience, can have what he will.” - Benjamin Franklin
“The principle part of faith is patience.” - George MacDonald
I believe that if we could all learn to be patient with ourselves and with others we could spread a lot more peace and harmony on this wonderful planet of ours. I hope you start believing it too....
3 comments:
This is such a great post Brynn and I too have had to learn how to be more patient! I can totally relate to the stress levels the british transport can cause! (I live here!!) but like you I learned to pass the time in similar ways instead of getting worked up about it. For me, the biggest lesson has been finding ways of enjoying the journey instead of always focusing on the destination.
What book are you reading?
Thanks J, I am busy reading 'A Course in Miracles'. It's extremely spiritual and difficult to read, but I am learning some valuable lessons. We are all on a journey back to God...
Hi Beano! So how's that waiting game going...a few hours and counting :o)
I always think of something I was once taught...Called the "circle of control and the circle influence" when it comes to getting stressed out....
The things that are in your circle of control are the things you can influence; the things not in your circle of control, you can't influence.
EG
You can control your behaviour and reaction to what others do and say so therefor you can influence the situation in a good or bad way...
You can't control the roadworks in Cape Road right now (which I discoverd this morning when my street became the "gateway to freedom" of those being re-directed) which meant I was going to be late...so instead of stressing I enjoyed a bit more of the 5fm morning show that I can't normally listen to.....can't control it, so don't let it influence you :o) If I had reacted differently I'd prob still be in a foul mood from this mornings traffic jam!
Have a super day and looking forward to the news of baby Thomas in the next 24 hours
Amanda
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