Patience attracts happiness; it brings near that which
is far. ~ Swahili proverb
It has been my observation that we seek the things that we want
with force and energy but yet we often do not get any closer to that goal. It
is when we are patient and allow what we want to move closer to us that we are
then able to obtain it.
This happened to me a number of years ago. I was extremely
unhappy in my work and all I could think about was getting out. I applied for
other jobs with no immediate results. I became more and more unhappy and
dissatisfied. Finally I came to a breaking point and submitted a request for a
leave of absence of up to five years. Feeling like I had “won” I started to
prepare for my departure. Three days later my husband informed me it looked like
he would be laid off his job. I had to withdraw my request for a leave of
absence only 4 days after submitting it. My win was certainly feeling like a
loss.
My “loss” taught me that I had to wait for a real opportunity to
present itself, rather than forcing one to appear. While I was learning this
lesson I felt a lot happier than I had in a long time. The job was still
terrible, and I should have felt terrible about “failing”, but instead I felt
calmer and less scattered. Within a month I was called into my Directors office
and told that I was losing my job. I almost cried with happiness. This created
the perfect opportunity; I could transfer and do something that I would love.
Within two weeks my husband was laid off and this created the opportunity for
us to go anywhere in Canada
It is hard to be patient when you want change. We have moved
into an era where there is an illusion that everything you want is literally at
your finger tips. But technology will never solve fundamentally human issues of
finding value and purpose in life. There is no app for that!
Patience will attract the happiness we all seek if we can slow
down enough to let it.
