Patience is not learned when everything is going well, but rather when things do not go our way. Patience is learned when our expectations collide with the reality of the situation. Patience implies willingness to be alive, rather than trying to seek harmony.
A monk’s most moving observation was that of an old woman sweeping the temple steps. Her concentration perfect, her devotion palpable, her thoroughness complete. When the “way” is all we have to walk, those who prepare the way should be truly honored.
If you want to shrink something, for example, defects in your character: when suppressed or ignored they continue; but when allowed to be present in your awareness, they eventually wither away or you form a different perspective. The road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom.
To expand your consciousness and vision study the words of the ancients, thereby accumulating and storing virtue. Study widely with intent, think for yourself, keeping your thinking and actions free from deficit. You are thereby fulfilling nature and then you begin to understand the meaning of life.
Quote: The unknown is where all outcomes are possible; enter it with grace.