A friend sent me this photo of a bald eagle perched high above the Mississippi River. Soon, the eagle will take to flight and dip down toward the river and snag a fish swimming a bit to close to the surface. The eagle is a lesson in patience for me. If we want to soar like an eagle we also need the eagle’s patience to wait for the right moment to soar.
“Many times the wrong train took me to the right place (Paulo Coelho).” Have you ever had a great disappointment? I have. I’ve wanted something so bad and when I didn’t get it, it felt like someone kicked me in the stomach. The funny thing about it, in hindsight, I was happy it didn’t happen. Something much better came to me. I had to wait longer for it to knock on my door, It was worth the wait. Disappointed over not getting something you wanted? Wait, something better is coming your way. It will knock on your door when you’re ready for it. Make sure you answer the door.
From Alice in Wonderland, “For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.” Alice was developing the right kind of thinking. When we get get stymied or stuck and can’t figure something out, it doesn’t mean our situation is impossible. It means that we have found the right solution. It means we have to continue searching. That’s the way it is with most things in life. Sometimes we have to set things aside and give our mind a chance to work on the problem while we’re working on something else. Keep going back to it, you’ll get it right. Remember that failure is only final when we quit.
“Hope is not found in a way out but a way through.”
What if I didn’t rush around today as if I were in a 100 meter dash? Some days I feel like I’m running a hundred miles an hour (160 Km per hour) and I’m getting no where, but I’m going fast. I think today I’ll lighten up the pressure on the gas pedal. I won’t get impatient at the driver in front of me at when the red light turns greens and he/she is checking FaceBook or texting (this will be a tough one – LOL). I’ll drive in the slower lane and stay within the speed limit. I’ll tackle one task at a time and what gets done gets done. And, what doesn’t get done will wait for me until tomorrow. I think I’ll feel a lot more peaceful.
What if I find myself in the middle of a tough day? No matter how tough the day, the tough part will end. It’s part of the natural course of life. It may not end as quickly as I want it to, but it will end. There is a better day waiting ahead for us. It we patiently endure, we will leave the tough times behind us and embrace the sunshine once again.
And when your stifling heart would summon
Cool, lonely night, her roused breasts will keep the night at bay,
Sitting in your room like two tiger-lilies
Flaming on after sunset,
Destroying the cool, lonely night with the glow of their hot twilight;
There in the morning, still, while the fierce strange scent comes yet
Stronger, hot and red; till you thirst for the daffodillies
With an anguished, husky thirst that you cannot assuage,
When the daffodillies are dead, and a woman of the dog-days holds you in gage.
Patience, little Heart.
I was offered a very attractive job. The salary was a big boost, the conditions of my hire were everything I wanted. Yet, I felt uneasy. My uneasiness grew and I rejected the offer. The university that offered me the position could not understand why I said no. They asked me to reconsider. I said no again. The conversation was over. i felt at peace. It was a great job, but not the right job. Two years later the right job appeared. Sometimes saying no is the best answer, no matter how attractive the opportunity.
The tough times don’t last forever. Stay strong, focused, and patient. You’ll get through the tough times. There’s a rainbow up ahead.
It’s easier to love the people in our lives if we don’t expect perfection from them. We all are in various stages of becoming what we were designed to be. Patience nurtures the growth between stages.
