When I KIP (knit in public), one of the things I most often hear is "I don't have the patience for that." If I am in a less-than-charitable mood, I might say "Then you are precisely the person who should learn to knit!" Because doesn't knitting teach patience? We spend many long hours working--with not often much assurance that the result will be worth all those hours. Not only patience but interminable optimism are within the skill set of knitters.
What does it mean to travel through life with patience? It means that we're the ones in the doctor's office who are happy when the nurse reports that the doctor has been held up in surgery--as long as we have our knitting. It means that we don't mind getting stuck in traffic--as long as we are truly stopped . . . and have our knitting. It means that we are the ones to wait in line or hold seats for some family event--as long as we have our knitting. It means that we stay calm through the passage of time.
And what does it mean to travel through life with optimism? It means that we will not be deterred by one bad result. It means that we start problem-solving to fix what has gone wrong. It means that we learn from mistakes and know that we are made better by the experience. It means that we will not be defeated!
I cannot think of many skills more essential when the going gets rough.
Lovely post. I just watched a video about Paul Green and his fight against Parkinson's. He is a rower (as am I) and he rows and exercises a lot. But he talked about travelling hopefully through life. I thought it was a wonderful phrase. His website is www.nevahsurrendah.org
ReplyDeleteThanks for that link. I'll check it out.
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