I'm done with winter. I usually don't mind each season in its time, but this winter has hit us hard - especially compared to last winter.
I am aware of how ridiculous it is to complain about the weather, since there is little I can do about it. I still do, however, hold a special place in my heart for the rain dance.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best - 'Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.'
If only we could just wait on spring like a hero returning from war, a lover with whom to reunite. But are we ever content with uncontrollable change? Wouldn't we also find a reason to complain about spring once it is here?
They say the length of a minute depends upon which side of the bathroom door one is standing. What seems like chasms of time, waiting in agony on one side, is like a primal alpha-brainwave ritual of sweet relief on the other. Time is of no consequence when you are inside the bathroom, but on the outside of that door, you have the ticking time-bomb potential for disaster.
I am no clock-puncher. I am, however, a clock-thrower, a clock-unplugger, a clock-turner-offer.
So much stress is caused because of having to do things in other peoples' time. I don't like to be rushed. I like things to happen at my pace. I do, however, also dislike things that take too long.
Things should take exactly the right amount of time.
What... I'm not the centre of the universe?
Relativity of time is a funny thing. Each of us has our own 'pace', indeed. My husband is very methodical, preferring to be careful not to spill things or hurt himself or anything else in the process. I more prefer hurrying myself for the sake of 'efficiency' - which inevitably results in my injuring, breaking or dropping something!
Each moment offers a choice - to breathe or not to breathe?
As we mature, we realize that patience pays off in different ways. Instead of stressing about those few minutes that we 'wasted' waiting, we can choose to spend the time reflecting on things that make us happy. This actually floods our bodies with feel good hormones, which have far more attractive long-term effects compared to cortisol (the stress hormone, a.k.a. the death hormone).
Besides, why age ourselves over stuff that does not matter?
Aristotle said, 'patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet'.
Patience may be effectually 'going to one's happy place', but figuratively speaking, it always pays off - especially for big things in life. The most memorable rites of passage involve first a process of waiting patiently for the right timing.
Many say that patience is the sister of wisdom, because to employ patience is, in fact, always wise.
Those who practice impatience, interestingly, always prove themselves to be foolish.
How many times have we been passed dangerously by a car on the highway, only to pull up beside that same car at the first stop light in the city?
I'm not into hurrying up and waiting - we'll leave that to the bureaucrats!
What makes a real super hero is noble attributes, like patience and courage. We must do the Care Bear Stare to shine our own unique super heroic qualities at our common enemy. We always win.
In War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy says, 'The strongest of all warriors are these two - Time and Patience'.
Not many of us can stand up to time, even at our best and brightest. No amount of rationalizing can outlast time. A Dutch proverb states, 'A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains'! It's true that so much stress is created because of over-thinking and over-planning, yet the details always work out in time.
So, whenever you have to rise to the challenge of time - whether you have too much or too little - maybe it's better to just go to your happy place after all, and let the warriors fight the good fight.
