Patience within observation
What does it mean to live? There are many factors that intercept and challenge the way of life many try and follow. These factors are necessary to challenge us and learn from, but oftentimes they can be overwhelming. If we get stuck in these challenges for too long we can often get sidetracked from living the life many of us desire. I am guilty of this of course, or else I wouldn't be writing this haha.
In the times when we are “stuck” it’s easy to victimize ourselves instead of putting our intent towards understanding what the issue is internally. The most successful way I’ve learned to stop this cycle is to embrace ignorance. If we can force our way into a state of a “blank slate”, it gives us the power to revaluate our situation and look at It from a new lens. Once we can remove our knowledge, labels, emotional ties, and experience from a scenario we’ve been stuck in we tend to regain the ability to learn and absorb in ways structure can’t teach, ultimately reaching a solution. Though from my observation simply embracing your naivety is only the first step. The second step is withholding a patient intention within our observations, and actions.
This is the part that requires us to admit to ourselves that we are clueless in the grand scheme of the world, which can be increasingly difficult depending on the individual. It is essential in these times to be alert, and absorbative to the subtleties around us (especially in conversations with others). The subtleties often get pushed aside as we focus on the grand point without intentionally understanding the way it was reached. This can stem from how we were taught to evaluate books as children, we were asked to read an entire book and focus on finding an emphasized thesis, though the way the thesis was reached was only important in the years coming. I see this all the time in certain subjects taught in schools, the ones who tend to have lower grades only find the answers based on assumption and memory, while those whom actually thoroughly understood the way people achieved the answers tended to land with higher grades even though at first they may of got the wrong answer but were using the correct technique. This can be a valuable asset in everything in life, especially in conversation. The more patiently we observe things said to us, the more room we give ourselves to realize the intent and question misunderstandings. If we acted on everything as though there is a deeper meaning, and used more energy in focusing on the subtleties vs summarizing the “main” idea of something, we would gain more value and respect for life as a whole. The one who may not understand the main point but observes the subtleties at first, will be able to better understand the meaning of the answer, even though it may take longer to find, AKA patience is virtue. This persons conclusion will resonate deeper within their soul, as opposed to the person that firmly stands in their knowledge and quickly comes to a summarized “answer” without questioning the process, because “why the hell would I spend more time if I already have a concrete answer for myself?” right"?
In summary, the ability to live life slow will provide a life with deeper observation, deeper meaning, and awareness of your own intentions. If you take anything from this, this is your friendly reminder to live observantly, and act with the knowledge of intent. Sometimes we think we understand something because we know the concept, and we lack the motive to question the smaller areas of understanding, but you can’t build a house without drywall. Externally you can look at a house that has a foundation, walls, and roof to quickly tell yourself “that’s a house”, but until you actually go inside you won’t realize that the house is lacking the reason it’s there, to become a home. The more intentional your engagement is, the more you’ll learn and discover, and that’s what we all are trying to do isn’t it?
