This realization changed me more than any I've had up to this point. This one word, completely misunderstood in our society has been misconstrued to serve our ego's needs instead of becoming the soul blessing it is meant to be. Understanding this one word changes everything....
Patience, in my mind used to be synonymous with the word "waiting".
How many of you think like that also? Patience, up until this point in my life meant the grace to wait through something. Previously, patience meant a character trait you dredged up to get through something that pulled you away from YOUR PLANS. You know, like life wasn't happening while you were "waiting", the world stood still while you were "waiting" and it was just a detour and distraction until you could get back on your course again....your ego-driven ego-need course. Many don't realize that THIS road may not be the one their soul was meant for. This was just a distraction we had to be "patient" through until we could get back on "our way" again.
Now I'm realizing there is a big difference between the words patience and the real word for that meaning which is: perseverance.
I don't know why it seemed like such an "aha" moment to me when I realized patience doesn't mean waiting. But it seemed like it changed many things for me. It seemed like patience was something you had while you waited for a "bad thing" to be over. I didn't realize up until now that patience is a way of life.
I now understand perseverance and endurance to be the proper terms used when you are waiting to get through something. Having perseverance gives you the patience to get through it, but Patience is a character trait, a way of being, a mode of living.
I also learned that patience is incredibly hard. Because it means giving up so many vices. Having patience as a lifestyle means patience in any and all situations. You don't get to be judgmental, determining a situation as good or bad, it just is.
Patience is giving up the idea that you have the only workable timeline. Instead, Patience allows "life time" to fall right in place.
Patience means that you don't get to control the world or the people in it.
Patience means you have a choice; go with the flow, or be angry as the current continues to push against you as you fight for "your way".
Having patience as a personality trait means having an intense faith and trust in God, Spirit, Oneness, the situation, the process. IF you have this kind of faith and trust there is nothing to judge, there is nothing to get irritated or frustrated with because it simply is having the knowledge that everything happens for a reason and is therefore going exactly as planned. Control is quite a vice to give up!
Patience means that you are letting Spirit take the reins....and you're okay with it one way or the other.
One thing that is important to note is that patience does NOT mean being a doormat but rather having an active participation in the process of life. It is choosing to do what makes you happy or feels right, or feels in highest service, and then following the rabbit trail as you see what happens. It is a bit Alice in Wonderland that way, when you don't know what life will have in store for you, but it's also the grand adventure. Patience is the attribute that gives you enough endurance and perseverance to get through it.
Patience, real patience, acquired after trial, comes with great blessing because it changes you. It may bring about just the radical shift that changes your life in all the ways you wanted but didn't know how you do. What's more, everything about your health improves. Your spirit becomes calmer, less prone to irritation, which improves your health, your circulation, your digestive function. Your mind becomes less anxious, worrisome and fearful because there is a beauty in the acceptance that a being greater than you is at the helm. Anxiety becomes a thing of the past as you struggle less to be driven and acquiring and rather look for the gratitudes as they come.
It changes me to understand that patience is not associated with a "bad" waiting game but that it in and of itself determines your happiness as you go through life.
Patience DOES inspire all your dreams to become reality because you're in a clearer more receptive state not clouded by doubt, fear, worry and anxiety, all of which lower your vibration. Patience, true patience, in which you truly feel you are happy with and you are happy without raises your vibration....exactly into the realm of the law of attraction. Now you know you can attract whatever it is you wish in highest good...in right timing.
Interestingly, patience doesn't go away. It's a trait you learn and, once learned, it sticks with you. Perseverance and endurance comes and goes as needed. It's like the extra shot of fuel just when you need it most, however if you don't have patience to begin with, endurance through the situation is going to be a lot harder!
Patience, real patience, is never easy, especially in a world of instant gratification.
True, the lessons are hard to attain it, but the values are great once received. When you pray for patience, it isn't instantly downloaded into you like a computer program....bleep bleep ba bleep...Voila! Now you are patient! OH no, far from it. Patience is one of those attributes you cannot attain until you LEARN it. So it won't just be given to you. You will receive opportunities to LEARN patience. Ever wonder why when you pray for patience it seems to get harder? Say thank you for your blessing, you're getting the opportunity to learn patience.
My advice if you find yourself in a situation where your patience is being tested...raise your eyes to the skies in gratitude and thanks because you know someone is working hard and has big plans for you. Then look forward to seeing the changes as you watch them unfold in yourself.
