~Patience Is A High Virtue~ Chaucer

Oh my gosh....one of my biggest struggles in my life has been the ability to be patient. You know...the 'let it roll off of your back like a duck' attitude or just flat out having the patience of a Saint! Sometimes we feel like others should be where we are at a certain point in life...be it financially, spiritually, mentally, and physically...(this list can certainly go on). But this is when we have to step back and marvel at the beauty of where others are in their life. How they got there and how they are traveling on their path. We can hold their hand and rally around them, but we do not need to push them along or move them like they are chess pieces. Their moves, their choices, and their non-action, are what creates their lessons and inspires and facilitates their growth. We may become frustrated because they are not doing what we think is best for them...but this our lesson in patience. Being able to walk along side them is an incredible journey and I feel it teaches us the ultimate experience in patience.

The four cardinal virtues referred to by Plato are prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance( see Plato's Republic). In Christianity the three virtues are looked at as hope, faith, and charity (or love. ) So where does patience fit in? Where did it come from and how did it originate?

From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996): "Patience is a virtue. The ability to wait for something without excessive frustration is a valuable character trait. The proverb has been traced back to 'Piers Plowman' (1377) by William Langland and is similar to the Latin, Maxima enim..patientia virtus (Patience is the greatest virtue) and the French, Patience est une grant vertu. (Patience is a great value.) Some ten years after Langland, Chaucer wrote in 'The Canterbury Tales' (1386) that 'Patience is a high virtue.' Sometimes followed by the wry rejoinder 'but virtue can hurt you.' First cited in the United States in 1724 in the 'Works of Thomas Chalkley' (1766)..."

Like a flower, like a blade of grass, I understand that patience is part of the growth process. I am patiently waiting for my roses to bloom again.

Love~
Desiree