In The Cloud of Unknowing, a spiritual ‘guidebook’ by an anonymous author written in the 14th century, it states that “we grow by delays.”
Many of us want answers to our questions, want a resolution to our troubles, and want to succeed in a given time frame, to reach our goals and fulfill our desires.
But we soon realize that few things unfold the way we want them to or determine they should.
We need to practice patience, especially now when the world has radically changed due to COVID. What is patience? The Oxford Dictionary tells us it is:
The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.
We live in a culture that desires quick answers to problems, quick solutions. When things feel unfinished, uncertain, we get anxious. We decide that something should only take a certain amount of time, and when it takes longer, or when we don’t know if we will succeed or fail, we may fall into despair.
But life unfolds on its own terms and the truth is that nothing is certain. As John Lennon famously said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
What if we focused on our purpose, on simply doing the work in front of us without expectations? It’s hard, I know, because we are seeking rewards of some kind.
But even if our plans and projects are thwarted at one stage of life, it doesn’t mean that we have to cast them aside. They may be ripe for development in a somewhat different form or direction later on.
The one thing we do have control over is remembering our purpose. We may have an aspiration—a strong desire to achieve something high or great—that has not yet been fulfilled. That doesn’t mean we should give up. There is always risk involved in any undertaking, and we have to learn to tolerate uncertainty while still patiently striving to do what is meaningful for us.
- To live according to our purpose means listening to and acting on our talents and desires.
- To have patience means to keep doing the work, even when we don’t know what the outcome will be.
Writing prompt:
What is something that has not come to fruition yet, but that you are still working to manifest in some form? I would love to hear from you. Email me at info@juliannedavidow.com.
“I have many hopes for the world, but I try not to have any expectations. Whether I can actually fulfill my aspirations or not, I wish to let them shape me and guide my actions in the world. Focusing on achieving results can make us too attached to our goals. Our dreams do not necessarily have to be fulfilled in order for us to be happy. Nurturing hopes is meaningful in and of itself. It is worth working toward them, regardless of the outcome. When we make this shift away from results, we will find greater courage to act on our aspirations for the world. We will find our nobility of heart.”
Finding Our Nobility of Heart ~ 17th Karmapa
