Life happens in its own time, of its own accord, at its own pace!

So, be patient.

A bug in an original, 3-year-old, licensed version of MS Office led to it crashing on my laptop on Monday morning. After some futile attempts to download and install a fresh version of the license, I got on to a call with Microsoft’s tech support representative. What started as an estimated 20-minute problem resolution window, took over 24 hours and three spells of remote desktop control and tele-support to fix.

In this time, I re-learnt something supremely important for everyday living – the value of patience!

Two Microsoft technicians took turns working on the fix on my machine. Windows 10 had to be, as a last resort, reinstalled. Since they required remote access to my machine, uninterrupted net connectivity was a must. The process became unbearably painful for all of us because we had to contend with both sloppy connectivity and frequent power outages. I was very wary of losing data when the Windows 10 reinstallation and a C drive reset had to be performed. But the technicians remained calm with my naïve questioning, with my hesitation to go through some steps in the process and, at times, with my constantly wanting to know how long it was going to take. They were ultra-patient. They left me feeling good and comfortable every time they even remotely felt I may well have been upset.

This morning, when I rebooted my machine, it started off faster. My internet access is fast too. And overall, there’s a refreshing quality to my computing experience. So, whatever happens, I concluded, happens for the good! In addition to this, there are a couple of flavors to my learning from this MS Office episode. One, technology can be a tyrant – a minor bug can drive you nuts – and the only way you can lead it and drive it is by being patient!  Sometimes, situations and people around you can drive you up the wall, but you must not succumb to the pressure; you must keep your focus, you must be at it to beat it – this is what the young Microsoft technicians did admirably well!

Patience, I have realized, is a non-negotiable, a must-have, pre-requisite to deal with Life’s upheavals and with the twists and turns of everyday living. I totally believe in what Osho, the Master, taught the world – “Be patient. Everything happens in its time, everything happens when it is ripe and, everything happens when you are ripe!”

Like in my MS Office instance, there may be times in your Life when you will catch a bug that you can’t immediately fix. And the only way to resolve the situation would be to go through a reboot, a reinvention – however painful it may be. And if you would like to enjoy that process, if you wish not to suffer through it, you must be patient. Because no matter what you want, how hard you wish or pray, Life happens in its own time, of its own accord, at its own pace.