What Is Patience?

Patience has little to nothing to do with waiting. Most people don’t understand this. What patience is about is in possessing the knowledge to know when to act and when to keep still. Patience offers great lessons in protection. You learn to protect your resources, not abuse them. And you also learn how to not allow your problems, regardless of how big or how petty, to overwhelm you. Looking to nature as a teacher; the old oak tree has learned patience. It has grown over the years learning to soak up all the sun it can before the autumn crispness turns its leaves and it awaits for the last of frost to end in the early spring before celebrating its buds. Patience is in the timing of it all. There is no patience in the forcing of things to create the impression of advancement or growth.

Patience also affords us the insight that given time most situations will clear themselves up with little involvement on our behalf. We often get too busy with tasks and problems, conversations and dilemmas and relationships or stories that do not need our energies, our focus or our time.

In the shamanic practice the importance of death is taught. There are many times in our lives that in order for things to change a death of sorts must happen. Something has to come to an end. It could be the death of a relationship, the death of a dream, the death of a job or even the death of our pride.

Pausing and allowing the transformations to unfold makes room for the lessons and gifts to be revealed. It allows us time to absorb, to expand or constrict as needed. It affords those around us time to adjust. Manic problem solving leaves no room for this. Patience is not involved.

Finally, patience offers the gift of living consciously in the now. We do not obsess over what has happened in the past or what tomorrow may bring. We learn to appreciate what is unfolding before us presently. We give it our fullest attention. We pause as it unwinds and unfolds and wait for the next moment…which could hold action or more pause. It affords us a type of grace that brings peace, understanding and calm. We are able to just be, not have to do, do, do.

Blessings ~ Lisa

© COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Bountiful Blessings

How blessed we are to be living in a time in history when our most ancient ways of understanding the world and the universe are intertwined and joined with the most advanced ways of viewing reality. This supports the creation of a new paradigm for honoring the earth and for supporting one another as we grow into our human spiritual being-ness. A true Shaman continuously expresses their spirituality, but not in a pompous or arrogant way. They live it, not only when they are teaching or healing or in ceremony, but in the everyday. The keep their profound gifts of spirit congruent with the aspects of living in today’s world.

There is also a beautiful and gracious reverence for all interactions with the spirits as well as with the interactions of the people and beings that cross the Shaman’s path. Honoring plants and stones, honoring spirits of all realms, honoring the neighbor and the stranger…the Shaman walks a path of respect and integrity while appreciating the interconnection of all.

Shamans have an understanding that everything in this world is of spirit and inspirited. There is no separation. Thus, there is a deep sense of being responsible to express gratitude to all for the relationships that offer lessons, gifts of understanding and relationship.

Putting action and intention together in the same moment brings an importance to spiritual practice that I am embracing and focusing my intention to put into an ongoing practice. It is so easy in our culture today to put what we believe as important in our lives, including our spiritual practices, into intellectual and theoretical folders in our minds. But putting these into action in our real lives, walking the talk, is where our personal power grows, our interconnectedness blossoms and transcendence occurs.

Keeping our thoughts, words and actions in alignment means living in gratitude, living in the moment, living with truth and faith. It means eliminating the thoughts of separation. In this place I am called to step up and treat all beings as treasured and cherished loved ones. Living this way supports the earth’s renewal. Living this way is the way of the Shaman and I aspire to become more gracious at my attempts.

Living this way is about deliberately loving what we practice, loving the world, and being part of the whole. It will transform lives. It is my hope that through the choice and intention that I bring to this way of life I will bring more balance to my days, step more fully into my power and create interactions that will be glorious examples of spiritual relationships.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade