PATIENCE MONTH: DAY 22:
“Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is “timing”
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way.” ― Fulton J. Sheen
I am a person who was born and lived in perpetual motion. I never considered waiting to do anything and was always revving my engines for the next big thing. My brain was going all the time. I can jump right into this way of being without even knowing it. I get out of bed with an agenda each day, if I am not disciplined with making new behaviors part of my life.
That has changed, with the advent of both time and maturity and recovery. Not everyone who gets old is maturing. There are a lot of people who are aging and not very happy with their lives or their aging process. How arrogant we are when we fight that whole thing! It saddens me to watch folks who spend hours of every day and tons of money on anti-aging interventions. It is sad, because we do not honor the wisdom and maturity that goes with age. Even those who do not have a great deal of emotional maturity have learned a few things.
Those still in the grip of addiction are often bitter and angry about their lives. They, too, can teach us something if we listen to them. Their negative outlook on things has a great deal to say. I know some people like this, and they teach me that my path is a good one, because I certainly don’t want to live like they live, and I was born and bred for that life!
Today, I can practice patience by knowing that whatever I need to do or want to do will be there in the fullness of time. I can put things on hold long enough to do my writing in the morning and then my sit. I do not have to jump into anything until I have spent time in contemplating these things and then being mindful of my impatience to GO! I am happy to know that I am only responsible for my life and my attitude and my behaviors today. I cannot create those things in other people or the world around me.
If things are not happening the way I would like them to, I can sit with my demands and see that they are quite often selfish and self-centered…really??? Still???
Yes, as an old friend of mine says, “I suffer from alcohol-ISM, not WASM.” Yay! Yeah, it is still there, or I would not need to do the maintenance I do. And, to be clear, I do more now than I ever did before. Not going to so many meetings, but I do an hour of writing and meditating every single day. Why? Because that is what feeds my spirit. And then I find that I have more to pass along. I am grateful for the patience it takes to do this work.
Knowing when to act and when to be still is the key to right living for me. I had a teacher who told me to always say: “Hhmm…that is an interesting idea (question, suggestion, plan). Let me think about that and get back to you.” I have been challenged with saying it, but it is the key to right action for me. I am impulsive and get into trouble when I act without considering what I am doing and all possible consequences. There are things I want in the world, and I need to know if I am feeding my spirit or an impulsive need for attention and distraction.
Then there are the life situations that challenge all of us: Jobs, relationships, moving, etc. So I am one who has had way more than her share of these things. And, today, I must not try to create them just for the sake of being busy. We want to DO something when one of these areas is out of balance. Most often, it is to sit still and find comfort with the imbalance and KNOW that the Universe is going to give us what we need for balance when the time is right. My old sponsor always told me: “When in doubt, do nothing.” Oh…and shit! I am not good at that. So I run around like a tornado making things happen, stirring up dust, and then when it settles, the things I have brought into my life are totally there by self-will. The Universe will let me do that, and then I get to pay prices and clean up my mess. Damn! And, Oh! I coulda waited for the right thing. And today, I find that I most often do.
Dolphin Hug 