The many rewards of patience

Sustained personal development requires constant attention on the self to see where we are lacking and make the necessary efforts to remove the shortcomings.

- B.K. SHEILU

As we progress on the path of self-improvement, sometimes we can become careless and lazy in a subtle way. How does that happen? Instead of honest and careful self-examination, we superficially scan our life and tell ourselves, 'I am doing OK... I am fine.' My material circumstances may be comfortable, but can I truthfully say, after genuine introspection, that I no longer have any weakness? If my family, colleagues, and other people I interact with, say that they are happy with me, that would be cause for satisfaction, but if I give myself a congratulatory certificate, it is a sign of carelessness and it shows that I am not checking myself scrupulously.

When we have spent some time working on ourselves and start to feel that we have grown, we may sometimes become slack in our efforts. We think: 'I know what I need to do... I have learnt all there is to learn...' Our conduct reflects what we have learned. If our words or behaviour are sometimes inappropriate, it is a sign that we are still carrying things in the mind that stop us from being the best we can be. When we speak or act in ways that bring about regret, it indicates that we have not attained self-mastery.