Mar 10, 2008 | 5:23 pm
Patience, grasshopper
My life has become very hectic in the last few weeks. Working towards graduation from the Fearless Living Institute, a new boss, a team of directors that I’ve joined, and taking some time for my health and well being – not to mention nurturing my relationship with my boyfriend – have all been consuming my attention.
My usually calm email box is now flushed with comments that are dying for a reply and I just simply don’t have the bandwidth to respond to all. I’m pretty well organized with my emails and I have a good idea of what’s out there to communicate about. I have choices to either join in the conversation, stand on the sidelines and just watch conversations, or be somewhere in between.
I tend to sway towards one side or the other and finding the ‘balance’ in between can be a challenge. I want my peers to know I’m still engaged which warrants a quick response, and yet I want to communicate in the most meaningful and value-added way as well which takes time to consider and develop responses.
So, I’m taking some time right now to consider answers to emails which may mean that others are waiting on me. The worst part about this for me, personally, is that others may get frustrated, angry, upset, judgmental, or downright nasty about not hearing from me. And I don’t like people to have those thoughts and feelings about me.
When I mention patience, it’s not really about the other person. The person who gets to practice patience is me. I get to practice patience with all those thoughts about what I expect of myself, of other people, of the world. I get to notice when others are impatient with me.
Homework:
What does patience look like to you? A deep breath? Smelling the flowers? Massaging your neck? Looking into the eyes of another? Yelling, kicking, and screaming? telling somebody off? Fleeing a situation?
Chose a moment to be patient today and just be. Take a ten second meditation and just see what happens. (10 second mediation? Yes, I actually meant that.)
Truly Yours,
Joseph Lyons