Have you ever thought about patience as a super power?
It sounds kind of weird, I know, but I’ve been thinking about patience a lot lately.
Maybe it’s because I tore a tendon in my ankle and everything takes so much longer…although admittedly, I’ve never felt particularly patient.
What I've come to see recently, though, is that patience is a quality we have to hone.
The most obvious way we do that is with our willingness to wait, to forego immediate gratification.
We exhibit patience when we actively go against the desire to have/achieve/do something right away.
I’m sure you could easily give me ten examples from your life! Things like:
You really want to buy those shoes but wait for them to go on sale
You’re afraid of missing out on home buying or stock ownership and instead wait for the market to fall
You’re eager to get back to life as usual but your body needs time to heal
Essentially, we wait for right timing.
There are subtle aspects of patience, too.
Think about ordinary, day to day tasks like:
Taking your time to collect all of your belongings before walking out the door
Not rushing when you sit on the toilet
Slowing down when sending a text or email.
When we act with patience, we honor ourselves.
I like to think about patience as the invitation to pay attention in every moment.
As we hone our patience muscle, the waiting gets easier, we are less reactive, and it's easier to be present.
We also have less need to fill ourselves up or push away discomfort.
And we experience more peace.
What would patience have you know today?
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photo by Pepper_Mint on Pixabay