The Virtue of Patience
abracad, · Categories: spiritualityLife is both painfully short and incredibly busy. The onset of the technological age promised humanity an era of unprecedented leisure. Machines would free us from drudgery allowing us to spend our precious time however we pleased. The reality is that technology has increased the complexity of our lives exponentially, demanding ever-increasing sacrifice of time and effort just to stand still.
Impatience is a modern epidemic, insatiability a characteristic of the present human condition. We can get from A to B faster than ever, access the entirety of human intellectual achievement from our armchair or phone. But still it isn't enough. The more we have, the faster we go, the more and the faster we desire.
Patience is about accepting the reality of the moment and making the best of it rather than suffering futile frustration over things that can't be altered. Whatever our situation, it is inevitably imperfect. We continually seek the next, better, stage along our journey. Surely one of the saddest images of the 21st century is that of 2 "friends", side by side, ignoring each other while talking to different friends on their cell phones.
Life's only certainty (excepting its destination of physical death) is change. Wherever we may be - good, bad, or almost certainly a mix of the 2 - it will pass, in its own time. Be here now; each moment has a lesson to teach, an experience to convey. And each moment will pass. To miss the magic of the moment due to impatience is to deny one's very purpose.
Patience doesn't mean passivity or inactivity. It means doing the right things at the appropriate time. No bridge can be crossed until it is reached, so don't try. Instead make the present moment of now, which is all you really have, as purposeful as possible. Even if that means preparing how you're going to cross the bridges that may lie ahead.
"More haste, less speed", "fools rush in", "fail to plan, plan to fail" run a few of the old adages warning against the dangers of action without strategy. Earthly labors are invariably more productive if we have the patience to think and plan before getting started.
No time is wasted, unless you choose it to be. Even being stuck in traffic, waiting for a bus etc, is time given for a reason. Try focusing on the stillness within and trying to listen to your Spiritual essence, you may be surprised at what you hear.
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