Continued, Patient Effort Leads to Peace of Mind
The next topic in the book is perseverance. It is that continued, patient effort on your part that leads to peace of mind, inner peace. It is that repeated effort, without being discouraged that things are not turning out the way you wish.
Rolls of Perseverance
The first stanza of the verse reads, “I struggle to not become discouraged, or to think I am a failure because I have not achieved in my first few attempts the vision of myself as I wish to be.”
You see, I wanted to have peace of mind, and, despite my efforts, I was not making it, was not getting there. What I didn’t realize was that I WAS getting there, it just took a lot of internal work and healing to get to the peace of mind for which I searched.
You cannot do one thing and expect to “get there,” wherever “there” is. It often takes repeated effort on your part, doing the same thing again and again sometimes. Just as the rolls of iron go on and on in this photo, so must your efforts to find that peace of mind for which you search.
It is much less straining to be patient while continuing your efforts, for to be impatient sets up an attitude of tenseness, of expectation of what the outcome of your actions is to be. That’s all well and good, yet life’s outcomes are often not what you want them or expect them to be.
Besides, to go against the flow of what is, to try and manage the outcome, takes away from the mystery and magic of life, don’t you think?
So, what does that have to do with perseverance and peace of mind? The more you can go with the flow and keep up a continued and patient effort, the more you will find peace of mind, even during the search you are on.
Perseverance helps you find peace in the middle of daily living. Don’t like something about yourself, or that you did or said? Keep practicing perseverance until you get it right. Continue to work toward peace of mind, even through the discouragement that may come.
Above all, do not think yourself a failure because it takes more than one attempt. Instead, think of yourself as a human being.
How have you persevered to find peace of mind? Have those methods been difficult for you to maintain? How did you find the patience to continue, again and again? I invite you to leave a comment in response.
Tags: peace of mind, perseverance