Sunday, May 10, 2015

Results of Patience

Life is filled with twists and turns, ups and downs, and not a few struggle to find the way out of the maze in which they are in. The Serenity Prayer often comes to mind: we change the things we can and have the wisdom to know the difference between  what we can and can't change. This is not always easy to do.

In the Seoul Bulletin a Ballerina who now teaches, mentioned an incident in her life which has taught her a great deal and wants her readers to gain strength from her experience.

All of nature continues to teach her a great many lessons and the providence of God is always present to her. Some years ago after ten years of dancing for the National Ballet as the senior ballerina and experiencing great joy suddenly she was diagnosed with a  foot problem that would require no longer wearing her ballet shoes. This was to her hearing a death sentence. She received this news from a famous university hospital and with hope in her heart went looking for places that would give her hope.

She heard about rehabilitation of athletes, and  joined a group where she would be working 12 hours a day with exercise. After ten months her instructor told her to put on her ballet shoes and the pain had disappeared, and had no problem with dancing. She remembers this moment  as being even happier than when she  started dancing. 

After overcoming the foot  problem she returned to the National Ballet and in her senior position was  able to share her  joy with the  audience. She later even received  the most coveted prize in ballet; she remembers how close she came to seeing the end of her ballet career. Her patience earned her a great deal of happiness.

The words of a priest came to mind who said that it took Noah 120 years to build the ark and Jesus took 30 years to prepare for his public life. We don't need these long periods of time but patience and wisdom are necessary in our lives. Looking back on her life, if she  gave up ballet, as doctors said was necessary,  what would that have done to her? She had enough patience and wisdom to keep on looking. 

Looking back she sees the unfortunate situation she faced as a blessing, and appreciates all the joy that it has brought to her life.