A young dog went to the barn to eat from his bowl at feeding time. When the dog arrived at the barn he discovered a small black and white animal eating from the dish. Being a young dog still unaware of skunk, he rushed to the food bowl and was sprayed terribly. The poor young dog became so sick from smell that he could not eat for days.

Upon feeling better, and driven by great hunger, the young dog ventured again to the barn to eat. Yet again did he come across the small black and white animal eating from his food dish. The young dog began to charge toward the dish when instinctively he froze in place. Terribly frustrated, the young dog began to bark which in turn disturbed the skunk driving it away from the food. Ah ha, said the young dog, now wise to the way of skunk, and patience.

The virtues of life include wisdom and patience. These have been laid down by the elders, the ancients, the sages, and the teachers. The two virtues are interwoven. With great wisdom comes great patience and with great patience comes great wisdom. They come hand in hand.

The key is Awareness or Mindfulness. Awareness of self and of thought. Awareness of all perspective. To develop patience, assess what good has come from one’s impatience in the past. Has it served you well or no. Then be aware of the situations when you become impatient, for they will repeat.

Then Consciously chose how you would wish to respond to these situations prior to their recurrence. Then enter into the situations armed with your new wisdom of how you would like to greet them. Then practice, recognize when you detour from plan (become impatient), analyze your missteps. This recognition and practice will develop a new neural pathway that will in time become more instinctual. And you will be wiser.

Remember the psychological 3’s. Thought, emotion, behavior. Your thought drives your emotion which drives your behavior. Habitual negative thought causes habitual negative emotion and a reactive negative behavior.

~~blindfish butler