patience: “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart… Live the questions now.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
“Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear.” ~ Lao Tzu
Both Rilke and Lao Tzu are giving a clue to effortless – some might argue peaceful – living …
What appears unresolved today may quietly shape tomorrow’s wisdom if we “live the questions” as Rilke suggests …
Patience, in this sense, is not surrender or resignation: it is trust in the unseen work of time … not passive waiting but the willingness to remain present while life unfolds in its own rhythm.
Patience asks something different when the impulse is to force answers or resolution: to stay with the moment a little longer – especially in moments of uncertainty – allowing a deeper clarity to emerge naturally …
Teachers across traditions echo this same understanding. Lao Tzu implies forcing clarity too quickly only disturbs what would otherwise settle on its own. Thomas Merton points toward a deeper kind of patience—one that is less about waiting for outcomes and more about allowing life to unfold without interference from the restless need to resolve everything immediately:
“Patience is the relaxation of the soul that stops trying to force its own growth … We must leave ourselves alone.”
Across these perspectives, patience is not passive delay—it is an active, attentive allowing, where understanding emerges in its own time rather than being forced into place.
Perhaps patience is simply this: the quiet courage to let life unfold, moment by moment, without forcing the next answer … the next want.
Seen this way, patience becomes a continuation of the pause we explored last week: pause creates space … then patience invites – maybe allows – us to remain within that space … slowing down – or halting – reactivity …
… allowing awareness to deepen … for perspective to widen …
… for kindness to blossom …
… and maybe, even lead to peace … 🙏 …
In a world that often deters “smelling the roses” … patience offers a different way of being — one that trusts natural unfolding … that blossoms with time, attention, and presence … perhaps revealing the gift hidden in Lao Tzu’s question: “Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?”
May you experience patience in your days … and embrace what spontaneously unfolds.
The Opening Rilke stanza is from Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke (Stephen Mitchell Translation).
Opening Lao Tzu quote from Tao Te Ching Verse 15 – Ira Progoff Translation/Interpretation. or Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English Translation).
2nd Lao Tzu quote from Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell.
Thomas Merton quote from No Man is an Island.
Images (edited): 1 (& Featured): Dolomites sunrise reflection by rabbit_75. All images purchased from depositphotos or 123rf. All are for use only on our website/social channels (these images are not permitted to be shared separate from this post).
