Patience is not something that comes easily to many people. We live in an age where we can acquire things so quickly, and we have grown accustomed to it. Thus teaching us to have less and less patience.
This not only affects us externally but internally as well. We expect things to happen in an instant, and when they do not live up to that standard, we get frustrated, disheartened and sometimes even anxious.
Everything happens so quickly that we have lost our patience; we expect it to be NOW! This thinking is NOT helpful when we are doing things like healing or doing inner work. The expectation of expedience can cause us to have stumbling blocks, stagnation and frustrations. The path of doing inner work is not as simple as adding 'healing' to the cart and then done! We unconsciously expect things to happen in an instant, and when it does not, it can sometimes make us feel dejected and like things are not working out for us.
This is the negative side of getting things so quickly.
We have lost touch with the virtue of patience, and our egos have attached to things happening in an instant, and when they are not, or when things are taking longer, we get impatient, and the egoic mind quickly taps into old, wounded conditioning. This is when we somehow make it our fault. "I am not doing something", I am missing something," or "I am self-sabotaging", or some version where we are blaming (and shaming) ourselves because things are not happening on ego time.
We have lost our patience! As evidenced by our expectation that EVERYTHING will happen in quick time. Could you imagine now if you had to wait weeks or months for a letter to hear news from loved ones, rather than instant messages or email? The thought of it alone is enough to drive some people crazy!
This is why we all need to work on cultivating a better relationship with patience. Things within us and others do not happen in our time but rather Divine Timing, and they will take as long as they take! Beating ourselves up or getting angry or frustrated with others or the beautiful process will only make it more of a struggle and increase our suffering. Not to mention the toll it takes on our nervous system, which feels all of this frustration and is already being taxed from our rushing/instant society and the way we live.
Patience is not something most of us have a great relationship with, but it is essential on your path and in Life.
Cultivating patience, to me, means breathing and flowing WITH life! Allowing things the time and grace that they need to release, manifest or move through. The more I can breathe into the process, the less I am plagued with the frustrations (and sometimes even rage or anger) with how long something is taking. I am able to give myself grace and allow the healing and processing its proper space and time to work through, rather than trying to manipulate and dictate how long it should take. When I remind myself to detach from ego timing and lean more into Divine Timing, there is more inner peace through the whole process. Not always an easy thing to do, although the more I cultivate patience, the more I am able to extend it to myself and others.
This is why I suggest it is time for us all to rekindle our relationship with patience! Leave the instant part of Life to our online experiences!
Much Love
Tara