Do you ever feel impatient? I know that I have, many times. As a recovering ‘Type A’ person, it’s a day to day practice to be patient. One of my personal bests is a seemingly small one – a few years ago, I decided that when I am driving, I will come to a full stop at every stop sign. A full stop is when you completely stop (not slow down until you almost stop) so that you feel yourself move back and up in the seat a bit. This simple exercise has several benefits. 1st, not stopping fully is giving the universe the message that there is not enough time. Stopping fully affirms that you have time. 2nd, when you fully stop, and feel that slight backwards and upwards movement, it lifts your rib cage a bit, giving you a wonderful opportunity to take a full, beautiful breath. Aaahh.
Recently, during a retreat in the Himalayas, a couple of friends and I were talking about the symbolic meaning of the middle finger. Not THAT meaning – although there is a reason that we use the middle finger for that. One of my friends said that the middle finger represents Patience. That was new to me – I’d heard that the middle finger represents Power (which may be where that classic use of it comes from, and if you think about it, the flasher of that signal is likely to be feeling very impatient). Putting those together, I realized that Patience IS Power. So I decided to ask for Loving Insights on this, and here’s the message I received:
‘Patience is the art of living in the now, the moment of time in which you take your in breath and fill your lungs with air from the Universal Source. For what is there beside this moment in time? What is there to ask for other than this? Your life will unfold in the manner in which it was planned to do, and in this moment you can enjoy the unfolding of it. For the next moment will come in its own time and the moment after that will follow, yet you will never be anywhere except in the now. Therefore, there is no such thing as patience when you realize that there is no where to rush off to. This is the ultimate power, that you have control of your day and your life. In your breath, give thanks for what is right now. Be here in this moment and be still in your heart. You will find that you no longer have a need to feel restless or push yourself toward some future time that your busy mind had thought would fulfill you. Your fulfillment is now. And so it is.’
In thinking about this some more, it occurred to me that when we are feeling impatient, we are giving power to people and events outside of ourselves. “If only that person would hurry up!” When we focus on internal patience, we reclaim our power.
May you always find power in your patience.
