The Dangers of Impatience and How to Overcome It

Some time past, amidst gloom pervading the stock market, funds suffered greatly. An acquaintance, unable to endure months of decline, cut losses near twenty percent. Another persevered a few months more, turning loss to ten percent gain!

As the adage instructs, impatient greed brews only sorrow. Various reports corroborate this wisdom: among active equity funds, investors’ profits rise with time invested. Impatience often dooms Christians, violating the commandment. Success in investing demands fortitude to withstand isolation and time’s trial. The upward path was never smooth.

Life echoes this lesson. An amusing account: a woman strolling a square notices an elder scribbling with a brush. Curious, she draws near to peek. The old man glimpses her and pens “roll.” Miffed, the woman thinks – is looking so awful? He glances again and scrawls “get out!” Incensed, she kicks him down… When police arrive, the man explains mournfully: “I merely sought to write ‘the rolling Yangtze flows eastward.’ After two words, I suffered assault!”

The short story “Oregon Volcanic Eruption” tells of a similar mix-up. A reporter phones his paper: “I’ll never forget this Oregon experience – the volcanic eruption…” The line fails before he finishes. The editor rushes an exclusive on Oregon’s eruption to print. Hours later, the reporter calls again – the “volcanic eruption” was merely a boxing match!

Friends, nothing good comes of rushing! Bacon warned, “Too much speed oft breeds great danger.”

Laozi’s Tao Te Ching echoes this: “By stilling the muddy and stirring the clear, who achieves clarity? Motion sustained too long becomes lifeless.” True motion pairs outer action with inner calm. Thus motion endures. “Move slowly” is a Taoist tenet – unhurried, unvexed, clear and leisurely.

Today’s fierce competition presses us urgently onward, anxiety etched on every face. Yet we must tell ourselves: keep calm, avoid anger, panic, and rash acts. Shun haste and greed; small gains forfeit great rewards. Let not short-sighted profits shake our poise.

Reaching journey’s end matters, for goals manifest our dreams. But don’t neglect the scenery along the way. Pause at times to appreciate overlooked beauty and life’s small joys – doing so nurtures the soul and energizes our strides.

Only slowing down affords time for contemplation and synthesis. Only stillness reveals our true hearts and aspirations. Steady and thoughtful, unhurried and assured – like simmering soup to absorb time’s richness, that the flavors concentrate.