As we begin a New Year, Fiona Cook, Director of Training shares her reflections with us, acknowledging how tricky ‘putting a positive spin’ at the start of the year can sometimes be, whilst inviting us to go gently with ourselves, as we seek to find compassion, courage and patience to persevere. Enjoy Fifi’s blog article below…
I loved this post we put on Facebook and Instagram this week which said “Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy”. And I have been reflecting about why I loved it.
Partly because of the old curmudgeon in me I am a bit tired of New Year resolutions and the positive spin we try and put on things at the beginning of a New Year- especially this year when we are all faced with cost-of-living soaring. It can be hard to reframe at times. It also recognises that every new thing we face is difficult before it becomes easy. And that is so true when we think of child development and things like learning to walk, read and write just for starters.
So, I find this post feels real and hopeful for the start of 2023. It recognises that there are things we are finding difficult, or we think will be difficult for us, and whilst these difficult things will vary for each of us, it also reminds us that if we have patience, they will become easier.
That got me thinking about patience and how we develop it in our lives. Some people seem to have it naturally and other less so. I think it involves compassion for self and others as we try things out and perhaps don’t get it quite right at the first attempt. It means not giving up in frustration. It means perseverance and encouragement. Examples for me might be learning new piano pieces or attempting Worlde every day! I could easily give up on them and although they might sound frivolous and not very important to you and they probably are in the grand scheme of things, they are things I find difficult. I remember, years ago, learning to drive a car and finding it all too much until one day it all clicked with me, so I get the bit that difficult things can become easier with perseverance.
But maybe the thing you are finding difficult right now is incredibly important to you, is really difficult and it matters very much to you that you get it right. I guess I am wondering how things can become easier when the difficult thing is important, because it feels like doing nothing is not an option and could be a passive response?
If something matters to us, what can we invest to help it become easier? I have more questions than answers sadly. So here they are. How can you find the compassion for yourself to be patient until it becomes easier? And how can you even begin to confront the thing that is difficult and continue to practice it, so that it does become easier? What does easier even look like for you? How will you know things are becoming easier? Maybe you will have a restful night’s sleep, maybe you can reframe the concept, maybe you can talk about it with others. Maybe you’ll come up with something else.
Let’s all of us consider something we are finding difficult to reflect on today and then seek and find the compassion, courage and patience to face it with perseverance so that it can become easier – whatever that looks like for us. And who knows, we may be able to do it more easily than we ever imagined.
Happy New Year to you all and all the best with helping things to become easier this year.
