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Icarus
This one is for Jax:
ON PATIENCE:
The following is an excerpt from the book One Day My Soul Just Opened Up by Iyanla Vanzant. In this excerpt, she is describing a moment when she was running very late for an important business luncheon. In the middle of her rushed attempt to get ready for this event, she received a telephone call from her son, who was in prison. She was impatient, but when she began to speak to him about his problems, she realized that she was talking to herself about patience. This is what she said:
“1. You are going to be tested by fire. Each time you make a choice, you must be prepared to experience the consequences of that choice. Most of us are aware of some of the consequences. However, there are always things that we do not know and cannot see. When these unknowns, unseen consequences show themselves in our lives, we must be steadfast, believing in the spiritual laws of the universe, knowing that the best is yet to come. You must have trust and be patient.
2. You must not allow the wind to rattle your core. A hard-blowing wind will rip the leaves from branches. It will cause the weak limbs of a tree to snap. It may even cause some pretty large branches to snap off. A wind, however, cannot affect the core, the inner essence of a sturdy tree. A strong wind cannot disturb the dark, peaceful calm at the bottom of the ocean. When a gusty wind blows through your life, you must retreat to your core. You must not break. You must have faith and be patient.
3. Spirit and things of a spiritual nature do not work on your schedule. The fact that you have a schedule, the fact that you want certain things to occur, in a certain way, at a certain time, is an indication that you believe you are in control, that you believe the spirit of life must answer to you. You are not in control! You are in a process of spiritual unfolding, and in that process, whether you like it or not, spirit will use every experience possible to ensure that your development is on schedule-a spiritual schedule. You cannot watch the clock or the calendar. You must watch your heart, know the truth, and be patient with your unfolding process.”
Iyanla Vanzant goes on to explain that “patience is more than the ability to wait at the bus stop for forty-five minutes. It is so much more than being able to control several four-year-olds while watching the evening news.
Patience is a demonstration of your willingness to surrender total and complete control to the wisdom of God. It is the ability to discern the unfolding of a goal in the midst of a windstorm. It is knowing that your efforts are paying off even when there is no tangible evidence to support that belief.
Patience is being able to retreat to your core when you are being challenged and pull up everything in your arsenal of truth that will glorify the presence of the Divine in your being.
Patience is knowing that you have done your best, and that what will be on the test is what you already know.”
Jax
Thanks Icarus. As usually, this gave me words to verbalize what I knew but couldn’t say. I still fight it slightly, this spiritual patience, but I’ve been working on it a lot. I think it shows in my behavior, as I can honestly say I have only half a day out of any week where I am in a less than positive mood. And I take care of that during my lunch hour. It makes a huge difference, and is probably why I’m still progressing with my development in spite of working a lot and not doing as much active training.
These are all certainly interesting. I think I’m going to split these into individual threads so people can respond to each one without getting confused.
Fine with me. Scattered toys work just as well.
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