Patience and Forbearance as Teachers

It's been one of those days: the electricity company has told me that if I make the changes to my contract that I wish to make (which would result in an approximate 50% reduction in my monthly electricity bill), it will cost a great deal of money as I will have to change the installation both in my home, as well as on the external meter. Several calls later - to the same company, but different employees - I now have four different versions of what will happen if I insist on making the changes. I call a competitor. They tell me such changes would cost next to nothing and would not require any kind of new installation. I call the original company again, a different employee, of course, answers the phone, and once more I explain what I want. Again, the same story. I mention that in that case I will move to the competitor. Immediately I am told that I will be passed to someone else. This new person, very courteously informs me that the changes I want are totally feasible, and furthermore, will cost - next to nothing.

All this has taken up some 6-7 hours of my time over the course of 3 days. I have been very aware over the course of the multiple calls that my impatience, not to mention anger levels had risen exponentially. So I made a game of it, deciding to regard it as a lesson not only in patience, but also in forbearance. While not exactly friendly, as the calls and differing stories mounted, I remained courteous and patient.

In the midst of it all, the company that is repainting sections of the facade of my community, and who had said they did not need to enter my home, did have to enter, and furthermore, it happened just as firewood was being delivered and the aforesaid electricity company was calling to set up a time to make the changes to my fuse box.

It all required patience. And again, I made a game of it, deciding to regard it as a lesson not only in patience, but also in forbearance.

Was it fun? Not exactly. But here is what I gained from it: I maintained my inner calm. I felt in charge of myself. And once everyone had finished and left, that calm inner state did give me a sense of well-being (and in some small way, as sense of accomplishment).

Use those moments of impending impatience as teachers instead of foes, and you and your inner self will benefit from them. You will find yourself in a slightly better place than before, and the next time you are called on to use your patience and forbearance, it will comes just that bit more readily

Books by Dr. Gabriella Kortsch:
 
Rewiring the Soul

Click here to download the first chapter.

To see the Table of Contents click here

Reviews From the Back Cover:

"The masterwork of a profoundly gifted healer of the soul. Dazzling, challenging, wondrously useful." Peggy Rubin, Director, Center for Sacred Theatre, Ashland, Oregon; author: To Be and How To Be, Transforming Your Life Through Sacred Theatre

"Rewiring the Soul is one the best introductions to the spiritual life I've ever read. Not esoteric but real-world & practical. The implications are profound." Peter Shepherd; Founder Trans4mind.com; author: Daring To Be Yourself 

"The human being's directory to the soul. A breakthrough for those seeking practical assistance, those of a more mystical bent & every soul awaiting discovery." Toni Petrinovich, Ph.D.; author: The Call: Awakening the Angelic Human

The Tao of Spiritual Partnership

To download the first chapter, click here
To see the Table of Contents click here

Praise for The Tao of Spiritual Partnership

“All humans seek the illusive touch of another's Soul, which opens us to the sense of belonging to something bigger than the self. Dr. Kortsch has given us the true "tao" of relationship in this brilliant exploration of emotional tapestry. We will be grateful for this illumination of spiritual partnership for generations to come."
Chris Griscom: Spiritual Leader, Author (among others) of: Ecstasy is a New Frequency

“Eloquently and comprehensive, showing how your primary love relationship may be a sacred vessel that transports you and your partner to a place of mutual healing and expansion.” 
Robert Schwartz: Author of Your Soul’s Gift: The Healing Power of the Life You Planned Before You Were Born 


The Power of Your Heart: Loving the Self 

My new book: The Power of Your Heart: Loving the Self, is just out. Here is a brief excerpt from the Introduction:

It is your right to live a life of love. It is your right to understand that loving yourself first is not a selfish way of behavior, but one that allows you to live that life of love. However, it's highly probable that you never got the instruction manual explaining exactly how to accomplish this. Possibly your family - and it may have been a loving family - considered loving the self an act of selfishness. Or perhaps the members of your family simply didn't practice loving the self, and of course, what you didn't see - what was not shown to you - while you were growing up, meant that you just didn't learn how to apply it to yourself. The closer you are able to move towards loving yourself, the closer you will be to living a life of love - quite independently of whether you are in a love relationship or not. A life of love can be lived with or without a partnership, because a life of love implies that you know that it all begins with you by loving the self. The more clearly you understand how to love yourself, the more clearly you will see that it is very hard - if not impossible - to love others in ways that are unrelated to fulfilling any of your needs. Loving yourself first is - for so many of us - one of the hardest things we will ever learn how to do. But know this: the benefits affect you in every particle of your being - body, mind, and soul - and are greater than you will ever be able to imagine.

Note: If you are wondering why this blog is now only appearing on alternate days (excluding Sat/Sun), it is because I also post on my other blog on the others days. That other blog is The Tao of Spiritual Partnership, so named for another one of my books. Click here to visit the blog and/or to sign up for the feed.