Photo by Erin Schedler
Morning sunshines!
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post I’ve been feeling a bit stressed about the future (Thanks economy!!!). Some of you know, my father was born and raised in Hawai’i, as was my grandmother. When I get stressed I sometimes look to Hawai’ian words to capture exactly how I am feeling in a poetic way. Last night I found the perfect word that I wanted to share with you all, who may feel similarly sometimes: ahonui. Ahonui is patience demonstrated by perseverance.
I found this wonderful description of ahonui by Serge Kahili King:
It means “patience.” And, it is also the word for “perseverance.” This is not the patience of waiting in a line. It is the persistence of knocking on a door until you get an answer. It is not the patience of waiting out a storm. It is the perseverance of moving through a storm to your destination. It is not waiting to get healed. It is using everything you know and doing everything you can to make the healing happen. “Ahonui” can also be translated as “many breaths,” the act of moving toward something you want for as many breaths as it takes.
What will give you the strength to persevere in the direction of your dreams and desires, plans and goals, wishes and healings, is the love you have for something that you decide is so important, so valuable, so good, that nothing at all can replace it in your mind and in your heart. If your aloha is strong enough, you will have the ahonui to keep going in spite of doubt, disappointment, fear, misunderstanding, and all the people who tell you that what you want is impossible. In this infinite universe, the only impossibility is whatever you never attempt, and the only failure is when you decide to give up.
I just love that right now and it sums up how I feel many times. I’ll be back later with a post about my eats (mmmmm), workout, and a cause I am passionate about.
Thanks for bearing with these posts- they are a bit cathartic for me!
Does “ahonui” speak to you?
Daily Joy: My morning bowl of oats 
wow that was a wonderful post and I hope everyone stops by to read it today!!
I love this post! After coming off a weekend of energy work and tapping into breath and energetics, the concept of “ahonui” really resonates. Ahonui is a similar concept to breathing through difficult yoga poses, which parallels with breathing through challenging moments in life. The breath is the power, the spirit, the life of our bodies. When we breathe into our body, we can accomplish things beyond our wildest dreams. Whether it’s coming into a full bind, headstand or arm balance, or getting through a personal tragedy, it’s always one day, one breath at a time.
Thank you for such a beautiful post.
[...] 30, 2009 · No Comments Peanut Butter and Juli has a beautiful post on the Hawaiian word ahonui. Ahonui can be translated as patience, perserverence and many [...]