Patience

About 9 years ago this summer, I was driving back from the Okanagan here in B.C. I had just returned a few months prior from India where I had been introduced to the work of Eckhart Tolle. I was near the end of my 5 hour drive and had been listening to one of his retreat recordings when the traffic came to a halt. There I am grid lock on the road, mid august heat and mosquitos all around as a swamp was on the edge of the road. Instantly I applied his teaching I’d heard “everything always already is as it is, say yes to what is, as if you’d chosen it”. I surrendered completely in that moment to the situation I found myself in and I can honestly say, it was a very peaceful experience from then on.

Today while at the bank, I was reminded of this teaching. Only 2 tellers we on and I was at the counter wiring some funds and the other teller was occupied as well with someone doing a little extra stuff today. After a while and I had noticed one lady in line behind us and she piped up “I have been in line for 30 minutes, half an hour!!!?” I instantly checked my phone because I had sent a text soon as I got to the teller and it had actually been 9 minutes she was waiting. Later at the post office a similar situation unfolded as only one service person was on and the clerk seemed to be having a time sending a package for someone else. Gradually over the course of 15-20 mins the entire line up began to comment on how bad the service is and bla bla bla how it had never been this bad. One man piped up it had been 15 minutes when it had actually been 5.

It’s not fun of course to stand in line and wait but what came to mind for me is why do we need to elaborate the truth so much? and I saw how waiting is so hard for many and brings up our stuff. We always have the option all day every day to view things from a different angle. A lady was putting her things into a package and dropped another bag in the process and a man went to pick it up for her and I thought, “wow how nice” maybe the waiting in line could be seen has having that opportunity to be helpful and thoughtful to another and maybe that made her day, maybe not but what if it did? wouldn’t that be nice? Standing in line and waiting can be viewed as what the moment brings rather than waiting. It’s our minds that get chatting and as we identify with those thoughts, we begin to act them out, we let them take over and stress builds in the body, yet if we could accept what is and be present and breathe and be aware of this unfolding we can choose learn to see that the moment cannot be any other than what it is. We would feel so much better, more relaxed. Impatience is no more than wishing the moment were otherwise, which it can never be.