Honoring our Journey with Patience by Stephanie Lewis

Stephanie Lewis is the founder of LiveWellFlow and an attorney. She helps leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs improve their lifestyles by teaching them mindfulness practices that help them reduce stress, improve their health, better manage their time, and live in greater alignment with their values.

Mindfulness places a strong emphasis on the virtue of patience, a quality deeply rooted in major religions as well. Henri Nouwen, the late theologian, expounds on patience in his book Discernment, framing it not as passivity but as "active waiting." This spiritual perspective extends seamlessly into the secular realm of mindfulness.

Within the practice of mindfulness, patience transforms into an active waiting process. We deliberately incorporate the experience of impatience into our practice, using it as a tool to broaden our awareness. Patience, in this context, means staying present in the moment, facing the discomfort that arises from our yearning to be elsewhere, with different people, or engaged in different activities. It's about resisting the urge to seek a quicker resolution or an easier path, choosing instead to sit with the discomfort.

Engaging in mindful contemplation offers insights into our reactions to impatience and prompts reflection on the alignment of our responses with our desired self-image. Consider times when you have avoided tough decisions. When did a bruised ego or dissatisfaction with a circumstance in your life lead you down a path you regretted? What role did impatience play in your decisions? The practice of patience can play an important role in our professional or entrepreneurial lives as in our personal lives. A contemplative practice gives you the space to reflect and better understand attachments that result in not allowing outcomes to unfold organically or with wiser discernment or timing.

Sometimes, quick actions are necessary or without negative consequences. However, a deeper understanding of our habitual responses to impatience can help us discern between automatic reactions and thoughtful responses. Identifying areas in our lives where impatience may hinder long-term well-being allows us to cultivate patience intentionally.

Consider where impatience surfaces in your life in ways that may undermine your well-being or your goals in the long run. How could cultivating patience serve you better? Much like any contemplative practice, "active waiting" is a lifelong journey that evolves uniquely over time.

For more information on contemplative meditation practices to help you cultivate patience and live an aligned life personally and professionally, visit https://livewellflow.com

 I invite you to download three brief mindfulness meditations by clicking this link HERE and learn more about my meditation offerings HERE.

If it is helpful to you, the link to the meditations is: https://sowl.co/s/YXrhs