Simply Patience

Have you ever played a waiting game? People sometimes do it in their relationships. Teams sometimes do it during periods of the ‘game’. Have you ever consciously decided not to hurry something, somehow knowing, deep within, that everything will happen in the right way at the right time? The older, and mellower amongst us tend to do it. Have you ever decided not to rush somewhere realizing you cannot make yourself arrive faster than your mode of transport, and you cannot control what gets in the way? Bus drivers learn to do it. Even in the midst of a grand priz, racing drivers have to do it.

Patience is one of those virtues, which can transform a moment of high anxiety into quiet relaxation, a rush of mental agitation into the smooth flowing river that life can be. In the presence of a patient person we are surrounded by an aura of calm as we are pulled into the tranquil light of their unhurriedness. Even when they are busy, the quality of their busy-ness still radiates patience. Perhaps they heard Emerson’s advice to, “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience”. Nature is almost always patiently busy, either visibly or invisibly.

In a recent survey by a national newspaper they set out to discover why levels of anger were rising in the world. They found the main underlying cause was not having one’s expectations and desires fulfilled… fast enough! In other words, impatience with events, with governments, with other people and with delivery services, are the new variants of ‘hurry sickness’. Perhaps it’s not surprising considering the speed of modern life.