Greetings Unity Family, I hope you are all doing well. Thing’s here at the Dietz house are going as well as can be expected. We did get the email from our school district this week that students will not be physically attending school to start the year, and the approach will be via Remote Learning. I am a bit disappointed that my son’s senior year in high school is so non-traditional. However, when I think of families where both parents are working and they have elementary school-age students, I realize things could be worse, and I empathize with them. I know that it is important for all that we do social distance until a good solution is found, so I am working on having the patience to accept this current state. I know that at some point soon we’ll all return to a more comfortable normal. I found this message below that speaks to the value of patience and I thought it was well stated, hopefully, it may speak to some of you as well.
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“Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is “timing; it waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way.” ― Fulton J. Sheen
Holding the world around us to unrealistic standards often leads to becoming stressed with impatience. It would be great if there were no traffic jams, no long lines at the airports, at the bank or in grocery stores; losing our patience isn’t going to make it any better. The lines will move, passengers will board the plane, clients will complete their transactions, and the cashier at the store will get to you. Life isn’t perfect, people aren’t perfect, and expecting the world to run smoothly for our convenience and according to our schedules is never going to happen. Be patient and give yourself and others a break! Accepting the twists and turns in our daily life with patience and grace is an invaluable virtue. Keeping our expectations realistic about circumstances and also the behavior of all others around us is also essential for our well-being.
Patience gives us the option to cool down and to extend the grace to ourselves and others in that immediate moment – when we need it most. To be patient means we don’t react mindlessly to minor irritations and inconveniences, it gives us the freedom to respond in a more kind and gentle way. Patience has been regarded as one the greatest of virtues in all religions and moral traditions.
