Tag Archives: patience

All In An Instant

There is patience and there is crippling fear.

Patience is an aware look at the situation, using better forms of judgement and aptitude to gauge prospects plainly laid out in front , and using all of this information to base judgements and action upon.

And then there is crippling fear that roots one so hard to their current situation that one fails to acknowledge discomfort, stress, and effects on health and mood before it’s too late and something breaks.

Both of these situations take just one single moment, one single instant to rectify, both within ourselves through our own actions or mindset, or through external forces that may just be the factors in the situation itself. A simple unexpected event.

But we can’t plan for the unexpected. We can plan, we can strategize, but the unexpected is.. unexpected.

It’s the difference between saying: “Yes, I understand that things are busy right now, getting out of control, but I’m creating plans and routines and methodologies to help with this, that I’m very eager to practice! Patience and persistence will solve this problem shortly.”

Or I can say: “I am so busy. I can’t do this. Why do these people keep demanding of me. I’ll never get this done. But I can’t stop, or somebody might get mad. Everybody is counting on me. There is no alternative. Must just keep doing as quick as demands come in.”

I prefer doing anticipatory work, rather than reactionary work. I prefer looking for schemes that will allow me to scale easily, rather than lurching like an old rusty transmission.

Smart & hard, not just hard. But this is my efficiency, not yours.

Creating Change

Creating a space to live in that encourages growth seems like an easy task; just light a few candles and post some inspirational quotes around and daily fresh flowers. Maybe some middle eastern music and a little sunshine.

Sure, that works if it’s just you. But, what happens when you’ve a whole organization or household to transform?

Patience comes from yourself, with your own activities. Patience is the key ingredient to slowly transforming a culture. It is much harder to stop a snowball rolling down the hill than it is to guide that snowball in the right direction to avoid disaster. Standing in front of an out of control horse will only get you trampled, but if you jump on it you can slowly calm it down and bring it to a halt.

And further, have you ever tried to convince somebody that is hysterical? Patience.

It starts with you, of course. Daily fresh flowers and candles will work for you. But, without your own strength – and patience – to lead and direct, it will not work. It is you that calls a team meeting to get everybody aligned, it is you who integrates culture creating activities. It is you who puts the pot of coffee on to share with everybody, and spikes it with maple syrup.

Don’t give up. Your quest is important.

So maybe it should be patience, confidence, and repetition that is necessary to bring your change around.