Who Does the Thinking Round Here?

[cedar_grove]

From The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have.

I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These are your greatest treasures.

Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
--Lao-tzu

Patience is the second of Lao-tzu's central teachings, and it is a hard bit of wisdom to accept, for the place of waiting is always trying and very difficult to live out.

How can I choose just one part of today's reading to inspire me when everything is so wise and deep?

Waiting is something I do a lot of… though I wouldn't say I'm good at it. I wouldn't say that I'm all that patient either, though I can be with some things and in some situations. I wait for a bus every morning and every evening – and I pace because standing still feels… wrong somehow. I suppose that's because, to me, waiting doesn't have to be wasted time… which speaks to the second half of Lao-tzu's teaching… in a way… and with the way my day went today.

This morning, I had to call and withdraw an application that my agency had put in with a school for a position in the autumn term, because, quite frankly, by the time you take into account tax and national insurance, and travelling to and from the school, financially it's just not viable, two afternoons a week. I've learned through experience that two afternoons, to the agency, takes care of two whole days, you see – because rarely do they see that you're free in the morning of those days, and think to put you into a morning only vacancy. Yes, they have other teachers on their books too – but how many of those are willing to do am only bookings, for exactly the same reason… and I learned today that there have been times when they've told 'my' school that they couldn't give them a teacher because they haven't got any. Hmmm, I find that all very strange… anyway. I'm digressing. I had to call the agency and tell them thank you, but would they withdraw my application for consideration – and… you know what they did? They moaned… they argued… they outright told me to go ahead and do the interview anyway, even though I had no intention of taking the job if it was offered to me. What kind of a waste of everyone's time is that? How unprofessional? Really, this morning I was quite upset and angry. So anyway – right now, I'm waiting. Waiting so that I don't go off half cocked and say or do something that I later regret. Waiting for my faith in them to return… and waiting for them to get over their attack of the miseries, just because someone said 'no' to them.

I must have patience.

Comments

[mirrani.livejournal.com]

I remember you, Rene and I all standing around outside the bus, watching the ship, waiting for everyone to hurry up and get to us.. just standing there talking... waiting... and rocking back and forth, all three of us. In my case it was a matter of RLS, but he was of course teasing that we were doing it because we got off the ship after so long on it. Really I think it was all just waiting.