Soul n Peace

cannot control align themselves to help you accomplish what you, by yourself, cannot do. The Eastern mystics speak of this as "going with the flow". I can't think of a better way to describe patience. Patience is simple, but it's not easy. Patience is a challenge to master because at first it feels as if it's going against our nature. But the opposite is closer to the truth. Patience, when mastered, is one of the skills most conducive to fulfilling our nature. Our nature as human beings is to create our way of life. There is no more powerful tool for that job than patience. Our greatest achievements are accomplished over time, with considerable dedication and perseverance. Neither of these qualities would be possible without patience. As the saying goes, "Everything comes to him who waits." The secret to waiting is patience. It may be the world's oldest cliche, but patience really is a virtue. Yet we are more likely to act as if impatience is a virtue. How often have you heard someone proclaim "I have no patience!", as if he were proud of it. Nothing could be more misguided than to glorify impatience. Nothing could be further from the mark. Nothing could be more destructive of happiness, fulfillment, and success. Impatience is just another name for instant gratification, one of the greatest afflictions of human kind. More evil has been done in the name of instant gratification than almost any other human foible. In order to have what we want right now, we all too willingly sacrifice reason, good judgement, and even integrity.

We can rant and rave all we want about the scourge of instant gratification. We can moralize about it. We can condemn it. We can swear an oath against it. But the only thing that really matters is to find a cure. Ironically, the cure is right in front of us. It's been there all along. If we really want to cure the affliction called instant gratification, all we

Have to do is to develop patience. But how?

Start by realizing that patience is not just a virtue, it's a skill. Moreover, it's a learnable skill, a skill that can be mastered by anyone. It's also one of the most fulfilling of skills, because it allows you to relax, to regain your self-control, to restore a sense of well-being and balance---even in the midst of chaos. Patience allows you to rise above the chaos around you and understand that there are forces at work far beyond what you alone can muster. If you wait for these forces---in other words, if you're patient---they can be made to work for you, instead of against you.

So how do you learn patience?

The same way you learned every other skill you now possess: through practice. But how does a body practice patience? Well, at the risk of sounding flippant, you wait. In other words, you practice waiting. The next time you have to wait for something, don't think of it as waiting, think of it as practice. Think of it as developing a skill that will change your

Life. This of it not as a waste of time, but as a way to use time to your maximum advantage. The next occasion you have to wait, don't curse your luck, thank your lucky stars. Instead of fussing and fuming about why it's taking so long, embrace it as an opportunity to learn how to wait. Think of it as if you've been given a chance to master one of the great challenges we face as human beings, a challenge that, once met, can bring you the kind of joy and peace of mind that you would otherwise only dream about.

Once you develop that frame of mind, delays will only encourage you; setbacks will only strengthen you; and time, perhaps for the first time in your life, will finally be on your side.