Just breathe

Patience. Why, it’s been around forever.

“Just be patient” was a refrain of my mother be it at the dinner table, waiting in traffic, waiting for a uniform to be patched….

Hitting instructors tell players to be patient at the plate, to take some pitches, wait for the one you like.

With the always-manages-to-amaze-me technology, transportation seeking to go faster and be more efficient (the proposed BRT line in Pittsburgh and the Port Authority App), and download speeds which computer companies promote as faster with every new device, we are a society that is being ordered and organized for speed.

As the highway patrol once touted….”speed kills”

Our society has the attention span of the Golden Retriever in the movie, UP.... “Squirrel!”

Modern society seems to be happily and collectively suffering from attention deficit disorder. We don’t remember last week’s “big story” and therefore over-hype everything as the “story of the decade!”

As a kid, my mother got me a subscription to Highlights magazine and she kept me as a subscriber for several years. Of course, there is the thrill a kid has (psssst….we all do) of receiving something in the mail with your name on it and a magazine was triple bonus points! Yet, the coolest thing and what I loved the most about Highlights magazine was the search puzzle at the back. Every issue would have a different drawing and hidden in the picture were animals and objects that one had to search for, find and circle. The exercise taught observation, patience, paying attention --- all wise skills for any one.

More recently, the I SPY and WHERE’S WALDO books do basically the same thing yet in much more colorful and glossy formats. However,the “why” behind them is the same: slow down, look twice, patiently search until you find what you are looking for. My brother Mark made sure to purchase them regularly for the niece and nephews continuing the family tradition of teaching observation and patience. Please note, I’m in no way suggesting we’ve mastered these skills, just that we realize their importance and seek to foster them in ourselves and in others.

As referenced several times in this blog, my mother was a total gift and I continue to realize how much by the many valuable lessons in how to be and become that she taught us by exemplifying them in how she lived. One of the most special and sacred spaces for me was the front porch at my mother’s house during the season of Summer. With flowers surrounding, hanging and in baskets and ample, comfortable furniture for many persons to sit and be together, I spent many wonderful times having porch moments; moments to just sit, watch the traffic go by, read, listen, talk, play word games. These were simple resting and renewing moments.
After dinner and before the final clearing of the table, we would stay at the table to talk and listen (the two really must go together to be effective) and sometime engaged in a game of table basketball (more on that in a later post).

I find myself continuing these gifts because I need to as they refresh my spirit and my being. when I am "in good space" these happen easily and on purpose.

They are ways that I get the daily recommended allowance for my spirit.

It's the start of the first official holiday of the summer season. Take time and just breathe and just be.

sj;