This is the ninth of 10 weekly reading assignments and kind action recommendations using the book “The Power of Kindness” as inspiration.

Reading: Read the chapter called “Patience”

Stop and consider any passage in this chapter that speaks to you. Read it again, this time out loud (even if you are reading aloud to yourself).

Kind Action: Practice Patience in a Situation You Might Otherwise Feel Rushed

The subtitle of this chapter is a question, “Have You Left Your Soul Behind?” and refers to a story Ferrucci tells of a group of scientists wanting to get their equipment to a remote place. They had hired human carriers to transport their equipment but the carriers had suddenly and inexplicably stopped moving, what the scientists saw as wasting time. The carriers explained they had stopped because they had been going too fast, causing their souls to be left behind. They were waiting for their souls to catch up.

Such is your assignment this week, to recognize when you are in a situation where you are moving so fast that you have left your soul behind and then pause long enough for it to catch up. In that pause, reach out to another person and provide them the warming acknowledgement that you are aware of their existence. This person could be the reason for your impatience or it could be someone else in close proximity. The key here is to recognize your impatience and then relax, engaging with another person mindfully and fully, making what Martin Buber refers to as an I-Thou connection.