Patience

"The two hardest tests on the spiritual road are the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with that we encounter.” ~ Paulo Coelho

Also known as composure, endurance, grit, long-suffering, moderation, perseverance, restraint, staying power, toleration.

Contrasted against agitation, frustration, impatience, intolerance, resistance.  

 

Patience is the ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay.

I took a deep breath when I read that definition. I have lived long enough to have learnt that waiting is part of the game of life. Some waits are long but they have a predicted end date. I remember waiting to do my exams and counting down every lesson, every mid-term, and every end of semester as one less to graduation day. And indeed, it came to pass. . .before another chapter in the waiting game begun. That is a kind of good patience, and that’s not what I’m thinking about today.

Today my heart is troubled by a different kind of waiting. An uncertain outcome, an unending tunnel, a situation with no expiry date. The sun rises and the sun sets; seasons come, go and return. And still you wait. It is not in your power to determine the outcome of your waiting and all you can do is be patient. Have you been there? Are you there? It feels like hanging, bleak, endless, and some days it even feels purposeless. To no end. But is it?

The Chinese Bamboo tree seed is planted in fertile soil, watered daily and exposed to sunshine for 5 years/1,826 days with no sign of a shoot. In the 5^th year, it germinates and then grows 80 feet in 6 weeks. What was happening in those many days of seemingly bleak nothingness? A foundation was being laid; roots were growing deep to lay a support structure for an 80 foot wonder. Had the farmer not continued to support that unseen foundation laying process, there would have been no 80 foot marvel at the 5^th year to behold.

Are you in waiting? Are you rusting in your parking bay or are you laying a foundation? Every situation we face in life comes to pass. Scores of people in history have endured delays of all lengths or rejection after rejection. But one day, the tide turned, someone said yes and the rest is history. I choose to look at each rejection as salvation from the wrong outcome. The right one is still ahead, I keep pressing on. Be careful to not indulge in pity parties and destructive behaviour, choose instead to continue watering, fertilizing and exposing yourself to the sunshine that lays a foundation for a robust root system. You will need it, when it comes to pass.

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet”.  ~ Aristotle 

 

 "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