… have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.
– RAINER MARIA RILKE
These lines come from a letter series “To a Young Poet” by famous Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke. Some still argue and question if those are really his words, but no matter who wrote them, they speak to my soul.
Patience is something we definitely need to relearn. In today’s world, we are trained to always get everything quickly. Fast internet access, an immediate answer on WhatsApp or email, we buy something with a mouse click, are sold quick and effortless success, and we want to earn good money fast. Daily, we are persuaded that everything has to be done, reached, and obtained quickly. And if we don’t find a quick fix, learn something at a fast pace, or have an answer for ourselves right away, we think something is wrong with us.
But that’s not the case. Because everyone has their own personal internal clock. Many things have to mature and you have to give yourself time and listen to your inner compass. Why not just trust that the answers to our questions are already within us? And if we live our lives and bravely move forward despite our doubts and questions, the answers will be revealed to us as soon as the time is right. I believe in the power of patience. And you?
