Patience

“Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else. Let’s be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.” 

(Henri  Nouwen)

Monday Inspiration: Patience

Patience and Love agreed o meet at a set time and place; beneath the twenty-third tree in the olive orchard. Patience arrived promptly and waited. She checked her watch every so often but still, there was no sign of Love.  

Was it the twenty-third tree or the fifty-sixth? She wondered and decided to check, just in case. As she made her way over to the fifty-six tree, Love arrived at tree twenty-three where Patience was noticeably absent.  

Love waited and waited before deciding he must have the wrong tree and perhaps it was another where they were supposed to meet. 

Meanwhile, Patience had arrived at the fifty-sixth tree where Love was still nowhere to be seen.  

Both begin to drift aimlessly around the olive orchard, almost meeting but never do.  

Finally, Patience who was lost and feeling quite resigned, found herself beneath the same tree where she began. She stood there for barely a minute when there was a tap on her shoulder. It was  Love. 

..................................

"Where are you?" She asked. "I have been searching all my life."  

"Stop looking for me," Love replied, 'and I will find you."

Slow and Steady

Patience is one of those virtues that must be cultivated while staying in India. If your an impatient person by nature this may be the perfect training ground for that. I've come to realize in the States how fast things come...there is so much instant gratification...but something gets lost somehow when things come so fast...I don't know what it is exactly...but its just isn't as enjoyable if we are racing through life at lightening speed.
By nature, I have always been a fast walker...on the move. But, after being here for about 3 weeks that has totally went away. I stroll...Ha!ha! I haven't done that in a long time. This morning we were running a bit late for practice and we had to pick up the pace to make it to the Shala...and it felt so strange and foreign to walk fast...and I'm like...wow...what's happened to me! I just hope I can keep that presence with me when I go home. Just because the rest of the world is racing around...doesn't mean I have to follow suit. Even with the vigorous practice of Ashtanga yoga I have taken my practice as if I am a connoisseur of it. Acting as if each asana is a morsel to be experienced and deepened...and ahhhhhh...what a wonderful way to approach the practice...to approach life. Even though the series is the same sequence every time...the depth one can go is like a bottomless well...there is always something more...something more to feel...to realize...to uncover. It never ends...and why would we want it to...we are here to learn...grow and expand with each passing day...hopefully filling that space we have created with more love, compassion and most of all peace...Namaste.