What Is Patience?

Patience has little to nothing to do with waiting. Most people don’t understand this. What patience is about is in possessing the knowledge to know when to act and when to keep still. Patience offers great lessons in protection. You learn to protect your resources, not abuse them. And you also learn how to not allow your problems, regardless of how big or how petty, to overwhelm you. Looking to nature as a teacher; the old oak tree has learned patience. It has grown over the years learning to soak up all the sun it can before the autumn crispness turns its leaves and it awaits for the last of frost to end in the early spring before celebrating its buds. Patience is in the timing of it all. There is no patience in the forcing of things to create the impression of advancement or growth.

Patience also affords us the insight that given time most situations will clear themselves up with little involvement on our behalf. We often get too busy with tasks and problems, conversations and dilemmas and relationships or stories that do not need our energies, our focus or our time.

In the shamanic practice the importance of death is taught. There are many times in our lives that in order for things to change a death of sorts must happen. Something has to come to an end. It could be the death of a relationship, the death of a dream, the death of a job or even the death of our pride.

Pausing and allowing the transformations to unfold makes room for the lessons and gifts to be revealed. It allows us time to absorb, to expand or constrict as needed. It affords those around us time to adjust. Manic problem solving leaves no room for this. Patience is not involved.

Finally, patience offers the gift of living consciously in the now. We do not obsess over what has happened in the past or what tomorrow may bring. We learn to appreciate what is unfolding before us presently. We give it our fullest attention. We pause as it unwinds and unfolds and wait for the next moment…which could hold action or more pause. It affords us a type of grace that brings peace, understanding and calm. We are able to just be, not have to do, do, do.

Blessings ~ Lisa

© COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade