Let’s talk about… patience
Let’s talk about patience
Yesterday I went for a walk in the woods before work. I’m fortunate to live close to such a place in the current 5k restrictions here in Ireland.
This is the same place I went for a walk on my birthday last year and happened to see and photograph beautiful red squirrels like the one pictured here.
Red squirrel, Devil’s Glen, Co. Wicklow
As I stood there beneath the tall swaying trees yesterday I heard the small cracking noises of pine cones being stripped - they were there again.
There’s only one way to see a red squirrel and that’s to be patient. Very patient.
You have to move slowly and quietly, you have to keep focused on where they are moving because they move on so quickly when they decide to go.
As I stood there on a beautiful sunny morning, listening to the birds and the flitting sounds of the red squirrels, I reflected on patience and how I need this right now in my life outside of the forest environment.
Having decided to leave my CEO role in April, I’m in a place of huge transition. In creating my own company, there are a lot of unknowns, especially in this Covid-19 affected period.
Do I believe I can make this work? Can I trust that all I’ve been involved in to date will lead to a more authentic future? Will I be patient enough to see this move flourish?
The ‘red squirrels’ I need to see in the coming weeks and months - new conversations, new opportunities, new paths I never could have planned for - they all exist in this ‘canopy of work’ - I just have to remember that it’s not always the noisy, tiring chase that realises these new realities.
Sometimes you have to stand still, camouflaged and quiet, with a calm breathing pattern and a belief that something very special is about to appear.
It’s easy to forget this a lot of the time, sitting at a desk, staring at screens, dancing to the ping-ping-ping of inbox notifications.
But I remind myself of this - when I leave the woods, the red squirrels don’t disappear. I have just changed my position and therefore cannot see them any more.
As I work to build Atom creates, I will aim to remind myself that opportunity is always out there, it doesn’t disappear, and it is up to me to patiently search for the signs, to locate them, and then focus in to realise its potential.
Here’s to building something rare, beautiful, and thoroughly worth pursuing.