What is patience?
"Have patience, Geo."
"Slow down, don't rush things."
"This is not a race."
We all know conceptually what is patience, but how often do we embody it in our daily life?
What does it mean to practice patience?
How do I transition from concept to practice?
Patience is the transition of attention from contemplation to sensation.
In contemplation, we are either thinking in the past or future.
In sensation, we move by the pace of pure presence.
Therefore, patience is the quality of being present. Instead of worrying about the future such as expectations or deadlines, we focus on the raw experience of the moment. We live day by day, moment by moment. That is patience.
You ever wonder why time seems to move faster in our later years? It is because we humans tend to retreat into the mind more (introvert) over time.
Because time moves faster in the mind and because the mind tends to race with thoughts, it is easy to be impatient. (By the way, anxiety and general impatience are siblings.)
By removing attention from the mind and shifting it upon the physical 3D experience, we now operate in time that is slower. Life becomes slower, calmer, simpler. As such, patience can be likened to what is called: "walking meditation." (Meditation is the practice of being present, disengagement with thoughts.)
You can tell clearly by reading this random post about patience, that I conceptualize so much. 😂
As an intuitive thinker, I am often stuck in my mind, envisioning many steps far into the future. I love chess, but I often feel like I play chess with my life.
This can be a problem for patience:
- Because I have my view stuck on the end goal rather than the moves right in front of me, becoming blindsided by illusions
- Because I end up with countless ideas that are never realized
- Because I end up caring so much about perfection, that I rarely ever start taking action
- I end up feeling like I do not live up to my expectations that are so wide and grand
So that is the story of my life. I am highly impatient and that infects all aspects of my life. I never quite understood what people meant when they told me to slow down. But now I know patience is about realigning with myself.
Patience is:
- Sensation, not contemplation.
- Knowing that everything happens for a reason.
- Knowing that everything happens for you, not to you.
- Feeling, peace, tranquility, serenity, calm, serene, simple, real
- Loving myself
- Knowing that only I am capable of living life for myself
- Knowing that I have been here before, and that I can choose to enjoy the process of growth
- Counting the micro successes of each day
I lost my job earlier this year and decided to start over by going back to school and working in retail. When I sit on the sofa to do homework, I wonder sometimes if I am making the right choice for myself. I compare myself to others my age and find it is easy for me to be confused.
However, something clicked and I reminded myself that I have a gift that only I can share to this world. The only way I can share it is to live life my way. There is no one more capable than me in living my life, George's life. However, all of this is still concept.
To really embody patience, consistently practice meditation to build a habit of releasing oneself from the mind. As I meditate more and more each day, it becomes natural for me to pull my attention away from contemplation to sensation. I can see it is a skill and that I am becoming better at it!
To my future self reading this post, I am so proud of you. Create content regularly. Take each day, day by day. Be patient, George. All is well~
🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑
-------------------------One last thing to add--------------------------
A very quick way to be present and learn patience is to listen to frequency. While listening, do not contemplate. Just listen and feel the vibration through the headphones. Get into the habit of less thinking and more feeling.
You deserve the best!