"Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of a process. What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. Impatience means to be so shortsighted as to not be able to see the outcome. The lovers of God never run out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent moon to become full".
I have always judged myself as a super impatient and restless person. I probably have been for a long time. While watching a movie - I want to know how it ends. While reading a book, I am tempted to read the last chapter as soon as I finish about one third of it. I have always wanted to finish everything - get done with my daily chores, get over with my to do list. When we travel, I am eagerly waiting to reach the destination. This has been me so far. However to my surprise, I am experiencing the opposite this lock down period. I am not just going through my daily routine. I am not doing things in haste and I am not feeling restless. When I reflect upon these past twenty days, I feel I am enjoying the process of doing things - whether it is cooking, cleaning, writing, reading or playing with my children. So far I haven't felt the urge to read the last chapters of the book first. I love to see my thoughts taking the shape of written words and probably as I have stopped viewing cooking as just a task to complete and have started making food with a lot more love and involvement - I see less and less of leftovers. I have thus started trusting the end result.
Thus when I came across the above quote in my current read, "The forty rules of Love" by Elif Shafak, I spent time rejoicing this transformation in me. This book has two stories from different eras intertwined and connected through the email exchanges between the author of one of the stories with the main lead of the other story. Ella has been assigned the task of reviewing a manuscript written by A.Z. Zahara - who is a traveller. His story is set in the thirteenth century and is about the connection between Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. Ella (in her fortieth year) and Zahara are living the year 2008. During a google search on A.Z. Zahara, Ella comes across his email id and starts communicating with him. She shares about her life challenges with him and he through his replies helps her through her crisis. The book is called 'The forty rules of love' as these rules are revealed as the story progresses. It is a very easy read and is captivating. However this time I am reading the book in bits. I read a few chapters and allow them to settle in me. At times, while doing other chores, I mentally replay what I have read so far. At times I just let the book be and I wait till I want to get back to it. At present I have finished reading about 100 pages and I do not feel impatient and I do not feel the need to check out the last chapter...
There is a lot about Ella's life that I identify myself with. However, right now I do not feel like writing about that. If you feel like reading this gem, it is available on www.pdfdrive.com.
Thus when I came across the above quote in my current read, "The forty rules of Love" by Elif Shafak, I spent time rejoicing this transformation in me. This book has two stories from different eras intertwined and connected through the email exchanges between the author of one of the stories with the main lead of the other story. Ella has been assigned the task of reviewing a manuscript written by A.Z. Zahara - who is a traveller. His story is set in the thirteenth century and is about the connection between Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. Ella (in her fortieth year) and Zahara are living the year 2008. During a google search on A.Z. Zahara, Ella comes across his email id and starts communicating with him. She shares about her life challenges with him and he through his replies helps her through her crisis. The book is called 'The forty rules of love' as these rules are revealed as the story progresses. It is a very easy read and is captivating. However this time I am reading the book in bits. I read a few chapters and allow them to settle in me. At times, while doing other chores, I mentally replay what I have read so far. At times I just let the book be and I wait till I want to get back to it. At present I have finished reading about 100 pages and I do not feel impatient and I do not feel the need to check out the last chapter...
There is a lot about Ella's life that I identify myself with. However, right now I do not feel like writing about that. If you feel like reading this gem, it is available on www.pdfdrive.com.
Originally posted on Facebook on April 13, 2020
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