Being Non-Patient: The secret we can learn from saints
“A person’s single most important task is to discover the divinity of ordinary things, ordinary lives, and ordinary minds.” – Aldous Huxley In our society, we are always lauding the “patience of saints”. We see a preschool teacher peacefully smiling in a room of wild-eyed toddlers and we think, “She has the patience of a saint.” [...]
Be Patient: An ugly encounter with impatience in the checkout line
I intend to go grocery, but my day is not being especially cooperative in yielding me the freedom to do so. Of course I have no one to blame but myself for this conundrum: I have packed it end to end with tasks, chores, emails, and phone conversations and I’ve left myself little (if any) [...]
How To Be Devoted: Wishing won’t make it easier. Practice will.
I wish . . . I wish I could play the cello. I wish I could do calligraphy. I wish I could rock climb. I wish I could grow an organic garden. I wish I could speak a foreign language. I wish . . . I wish . . . I wish . . . [...]
How To Be Grateful: “One of these days” … My philosophy of parenting
One of these days . . . One of these days my house will be clean. I will not find dirty socks stuffed between the couch cushions because it is apparently too far to walk to the hamper. I will not have to muffle a cry of pain in the middle of the night because [...]
How To Be Patient: Seek the sacred space within
Patience can seem elusive. Just when we need it most, we cannot seem to find it. Like the car keys that seem to hide themselves when we are late for an appointment, patience is an energy that we often scramble to find when our frustration levels are high and our coping levels are low. How [...]