The Rose
 
 


 
 

 

Patience is needed with everyone,

but first of all with ourselves.
 
 

-- Saint Francis De Sales
 

 
 

 One night April was having trouble putting a puzzle together. 

Angrily, she pushed all the pieces into a huge pile. 

"I can't do this," she said. She got up and walked over to the couch and plopped down. 

"Let me tell you a story," said her dad, as he sat down next to her. 

"There was a daughter who helped her dad take care of her baby sister. Again and again, she helped her baby sister stand and try to walk. 

One day the daughter tried to put a puzzle together but gave up after only a few tries. 

She had forgotten how many times she had helped her baby sister." 

We are all like April, sometimes.

We forget to allow ourselves to fail, even though our growth up to now has been a series of failures that we learned from. With patience, we allow ourselves to take chances we might not otherwise explore, and we widen our world of possibilities.

Life has been patient with us so far, now it's our turn.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The power of a man's virtue should not be
 
measured by his special efforts,
 
but by his ordinary doing.
 
-- Blaise Pascal
 
 
 
 
The airplane kit is on the table in front of us.

We have the glue, the little wooden pieces, and the instructions.

We work for hours putting together each piece, step by step. 

A dab of glue here, a clamp there, maybe some rubber bands to hold the bigger pieces together. 

We work slowly, allowing the glue to set overnight, even though we want to see it fly right now. 

We follow each step in order, even though we think we know how to do it on our own.

Patience is the most important asset we bring to this activity -- the willingness to allow each step its own time and proper place. 

After we've done all the careful work and waited till the glue is firm, we take it out for a trial flight.

It soars!

So do we, when we allow ourselves time to learn each step of the way.

__________

© 1991 Hazelden Foundation from the book Today's Gift
 

02/20/2004
 

 
 

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