Focus on Right Now
I am a very impatient person.
When I decide I want something done, I want it done yesterday. Or sooner. I think I’ve always been this way. There are so many things in my life that I can recall wishing would happen faster, end faster, take less time.
This morning I hollered at the microwave because the minute I punched in to heat my tea water took longer than a minute…or so it seemed. When I heard myself squawking at the microwave, I realized I was already knee-deep of a pattern of impatience lately with just about everything.
There are about ten projects, four items of necessity, three piles of paperwork, several big dreams for the future, and a feeble Gerbera daisy that I’m looking at with irritation and impatience right now. I want these things to start, end, change…and I want them all to fall into place right now.
But I turned to some words of wisdom from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow tonight – words I know well, but needed to spend time with again. These lines are from his poem “Psalm of Life” – not nearly in its entirety, but the words that spoke sternly to me in my current haste.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.…
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!…
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Longfellow’s words remind us that time is indeed fleeting. To mark too much of our time wondering, worrying, rushing, and looking for whatever is next on the horizon may just cause us to miss what we should be looking at right now.
And so, even though it is a difficult thing to do – especially right now – I will focus on the moments of my life that are immediately in front of me, not those for which I wish and wait.
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Twice in the last week I told people that instant gratification isn’t quick enough! I’ve been feeling so overwhelmed and wanting things to be different; you are right that I haven’t been appreciating each day.
It’s all about accepting the imperfect rather than waiting forever for the ideal that will never come.
Even if the the future doesbring exactly what we hope, Longfellow’s words are wise – until anything actually happens, it is only an ideal, a hope. It is not yeta reality. Whatever today is (or isn’t), it is still the moment we have right now and to miss it would be tragic. No doubt about it, though, patience is hard.
We are sisters in impatience. I holler at the saucepan all the time, waiting for water to boil.
Yeah, me too. We could definitely go out together and have a good time. 🙂
P.S. – Keep the lid on the pot…boils faster.
This piece could serve as a reminder to me at any given point. My mother always says “Don’t wish your life away.” I think she meant that if we spend all our time looking at things that will be, we miss so many things that are.
You’re in good company here. Our society confirms it! And psst… each one of us struggles with this.
I am in great company with the friends I’ve found through this blog.
I get the same way sometimes. The thing that reminds me to slow down and be patient is when I see my daughter acting the same way. Seeing and feeling the negative energy that she gives off when she gets impatient makes me not want to be like that. The sad thing is, I know that I taught her to be like that, because she grew up watching me lose my cool. It feels good to let off steam, but it poisons those around us.
Heather, you hit this one right on the head. Nothing makes me cringe more than to see my daughter in circumstances like that and knowing exactly where she learned the behavior. Makes it so true that our children are the ones who really teach us, not the other way around.
Patience is something that we all need. Too much stuff to do – too little time. The only way to deal with it: patience, motivation and organization. Check lists work the best for me, but always need to get myself in the mood to do it all. Keep the list short and there will be more chances to get it done!
You know, that’s a good thing to keep in mind. If your lists seem overwhelming, they can be counter productive. I’ve heard some people say they like to make a list of things they have done, rather than the list of things they have not. Seems like a good idea – I’m just afraid I’d forget the “to-do’s”!
Those are some wise words. Longfellow has written some great poetry. Makes me think.
I’ve been there too when you get impatient at a microwave. Every day when I heat something up, I just want it to go faster. What am I so impatient about? I should just relax and enjoy the time I have. Right now is all I’ll ever have so I need to be thankful for every minute of it.
i think the next time I get impatient like that, I’ll think back to Longfellow’s poem and what you said here.
Robert Herrick’s “To Daffodils” has a similar message about fleeting moments of beauty. Longfellow definitely has some great poems – “Psalm of Life” is a favorite.
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