Patience is essential to living a happy and compassionate life.

Not only should we be patient with what is happening around us, we should also be patient with our own internal growth and that of the ones closest to us.

Let go and remember that everyone has their own personal journey, so unique and individualized that they differ drastically in the aspirations we must each fulfill, the milestones of progress that we achieve, and the amount of time it takes to complete the whole walk that leads to our destiny.

Each individual is the protagonist of their very own universal quest towards freedom and complete understanding—no two journeys are ever the same.

Too often people take leaps into new spaces that they are not yet ready to fill, yielding to external and internal pressures as opposed to listening closely to their own inner voice. Allowing others to push us into doing something that we’re not yet ready for can delay our growth and may even cause more pain than we need to reach our highest good. Pushing ourselves is not wrong, but for it to be productive, for our efforts to lead into sustainable and continuous growth, we must pick the right time to push ourselves.

When is the right time? Each individual has their own catalyst, be it an external situation that ignites the deep will and power to change or the crystallization of an internal understanding that awakens into deeper change. Only you can be the judge of when the time is right, only you can know yourself well enough to feel when everything is in alignment for you to make the great leap forward, only you can know yourself well enough to say, “I am ready.”

Personally, I have learned this lesson after many cycles of trial and error—especially in my attempts at becoming a daily meditator. I had much success while away at Vipassana meditation courses. The meditation technique had proven itself repeatedly; its effectiveness in changing me for the better was evident from the start, so much so that after my first course I felt deeply that this meditation would become central to my life.

Even though my enthusiasm was there I struggled to bring my practice out of the meditation hall and into my daily life—even after multiple 10-day meditation courses. My aspiration was there and it was strong, but something else was missing. I went through the grey period, full of back and forths, where one sways in between where they are and where they want to be. I tried to push myself before I was ready and I allowed others to push me as well, but none of it worked. I kept trying to meditate at home but I could not remain consistent.

Until one day I felt everything align within me, something distinctive arose alongside my strong aspiration to meditate, an enhanced and emboldened determination that mixed with my courage to create a new energy of continuous effort towards meditation. At first I could not tell what made this moment special as opposed to others, why did I change now and not then? Eventually, I came to understand that in all of my previous attempts to become a daily meditator, I was not failing, I was gaining experience that was cultivating and strengthening my inner qualities. Every time I tried, my determination grew stronger until it had the energy to one day keep my practice steady and afloat.

People have the tendency to want others to be just like them, to believe the same things they believe and to do the same things they do—many humans find deep comfort in similarities. This tendency becomes potentially harmful when we push others to change in the same manner that we have changed, even though they may not want to or may not be ready to. Imagine a human being standing next to a tree, pushing and pleading with the tree so that it may grow faster, no matter what the human may say or do the tree will not grow faster, it will always continue to grow at its own rate.

We are all here together to help each other grow, to give one another the experiences that we need to fully blossom into unconditionally loving beings. Though we are here together, our paths are our own. We should stand firm in our power and change when the time is right for us. Remember, life is change, without the quality of impermanence life could not exist as we know it.

Using our strength, courage, power of will, and determination to change into a better version of ourselves is exactly what the universe wants for us. Change may seem rather ambiguous, but know that what matters most is the depth and seriousness of our aspiration. Once it is made, our path will undoubtedly unfold in a way that will see the fulfillment of our goals. We have all come here to deepen our maturity, and an essential part of maturity is reclaiming our own power, realizing that all information and guidance is within us, and that all beings have their own unique paths which lead to the same space of infinite peace and love.

 

 

Relephant Read:

10 Reasons to Give Vipassana a Try.

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Author: Diego Perez

Editor: Travis May

Photo: Flickr/Wonderlane