Hello everyone, and happy Friday! I hope you are going to take some time to relax and recenter this weekend, enjoying the moments fully—and here’s why:
Any impatience you show will only create more stress.
I love today’s fortune, because if I’m honest, I can sometimes be a bit impatient. Were I to examine this further, I realize that I often want to get to the "good stuff," whether that’s the feeling of accomplishment when finishing a project, or wanting to start my vacation already and get to my destination. I’ve done a lot of work in recent years on slowing down, taking stock, breathing, and living more in the moment, but I tell you, it’s sometimes a struggle!
If I manage to slow down, though, I find that I can enjoy where I am fully and presently, and it’s a lot more peaceful. The alternative—impatience—leads me to more stress, because it creates within me a constant yearning for something. I mean, isn’t that what impatience is? It’s a yearning of some type, wanting something to be over in order to get to something else. Think about it: have you ever spent all week hoping for Friday? All day waiting for the work day to end? Weaving in and out of traffic so you can go faster and get home or to your destination?
How do any of those—or similar—scenarios make you feel?
Definition of impatient:
1a : not patient : restless or short of temper especially under irritation, delay, or opposition
b : INTOLERANT sense 1
impatient of delay
2 : prompted or marked by impatience
an impatient reply
3 : eagerly desirous : ANXIOUS
impatient to get home
(source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impatient)
There it is, folks! Item #3: “eagerly desirous : ANXIOUS”
Not me. Not any more.
I’ve recently started some new practices in my life to try to slow down. For instance, while I’ve been good at meditating on an ad hoc basis, I haven’t really made it a regular part of my day. That changed nearly two weeks ago, when I started a 21-day meditation series that came free with my Audible membership, and it’s really made a difference in my life already! I find by taking 10 minutes to get calm every day, my breathing gets more regular, I don’t react to stressors as easily, and I’m feeling pretty good about things in general. And it turns out, there’s a scientific reason for that!
This reason is described in a book I recently started reading that was recommended by a friend of mine. I’d planned on doing a full book review here when I’m done with it, but why not let you guys know about it now so you can start it, if you want? I’ll still do the review later.
It’s called Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom by Rick Hanson with Richard Mendius. I love this book so far because it discusses in very plain terms why our brains are more wired to hold on to the negative experiences and the stressors, and how suffering is caused by yearning. They then offer solutions to help you rewire your brain, including explaining why, scientifically, things like breathing and meditation WORK. But they do it in a way where it isn't difficult to understand. Neuroscience for regular people...gotta love it!
Better yet, I just found out yesterday that there is a companion audiobook, Meditations to Change Your Brain: Rewire Your Neural Pathways to Transform Your Life. Since I had an Audible credit, guess what I just downloaded? I’ll start it after I finish my current 21-day meditation cycle, and will let you know how it is. (Note, it’s available on Audio CD, as well, if that’s more your thing, and you can always buy the MP3 outright instead of having an Audible membership.)
Suffice to say, I’ve been thinking about impatience and suffering, lately, and I have to simply agree with this fortune. Impatience will only create more stress...but there are ways to avoid that.
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| Photo by Simon Migaj on Unsplash |
I hope you’ll share this with friends and family who may need to read it. Please share far and wide!
Be well, and have a wonderful weekend! 💛🐝
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