Patience
Although the transition from first half to second half of life can begin in a moment, it takes a lifetime to practice living consistently from this wider, non-dual awareness. Even as you weep over your shortcomings and catch yourself returning to old ways of thinking, trust that God is working in you and loving you the whole time.
Brother Joseph Schmidt writes of a time when Thérèse of Lisieux counseled someone who was impatient with her own impatience:
Thérèse was asking the sister . . . Can you be willing to be patient with yourself until God gives you the grace to be patient with the sisters? Can you accept and love yourself and not become your own adversary? Can you bear serenely the distress and personal trial of knowing that you have the weakness of impatience? Success in virtue is not the point. Love—love of the sisters in their weakness and love of yourself in your inadequacy—that, Thérèse was trying to say, is the point. [1]
So you’re invited to practice patience. It surely does take practice, and God will no doubt allow you many opportunities to learn. When you are in a hurry or impatient for some particular outcome, first observe the sensation in your body. Notice what this impatience feels like, where it shows up—for example, your jaw, neck, chest, or gut. Be present to the feeling. Slowly expand your awareness to include what your senses are taking in from the outside world—what you see, touch, smell, or taste. Be present to this moment. Let the reality of both your impatience and the outer reality be as they are, without your attachment to them. It is what it is. And all is grace.
