The good Lord did not bless me with patience. It is probably my biggest flaw. I can't wait for anything. I am a complete wreck when I have to wait for news. So you can imagine how lovely I was during all my "transition stages" in life- waiting for college acceptance, MVC acceptance, job offers. Yeah, it wasn't pretty. Traffic? WATCH. OUT. During American Idol result shows I have to keep myself occupied by writing or helping my mom grade her papers. I can't teach my mom anything on the computer without my blood boiling when she doesn't understand. I yell at kids I babysit for when they take too long putting their shoes on. My kids at Cristo Rey caught onto my impatience immediately (is that irony?) and used it against me. They knew how much it irked me if a group of them all asked me a question at once or continuously asked me the same question over and over. They enjoyed seeing me get angry and would purposely do things to test my patience.
I envy those with patience. I wish I could sit still and wait calmly. I can't. I've tried, and believe it or not I have improved. Sorta. I still always have to be up and doing something, rarely taking time to just be still. Those of you who are able to do so, able to have a free mind and relaxed body while waiting, I applaud you. Don't take it for granted.
Maybe it's because most of my jobs have been so fast paced, or the generation I grew up in (we have EVERYTHING we need at our fingertips with computers and phones)...or maybe it's just me. I was born this way, baby. Maybe I can learn to be patient....I think God has certainly been testing me latley with this. I just don't know I've done so well on those tests.
My question for you all is this: Are you a patient person? How do you do it? Do you have a technique or is it just the way you are? Can patience be taught? Will you teach me?
3 comments:
I don't think patience can be taught from one person to another, but it can be learned. Some people are born with patience, and for a fortunate few, it's just a great part of their character. As for the rest of us . .
There was no more impatient person than me, as a kid, as a teenager, on into my twenties. I HATED to wait; things needed to happen YESTERDAY! But life will teach you patience, whether you want to learn it or not. I just reached a point around age thirty, when "I realized that getting mad or upset wouldn't make things happen any quicker, and very often, it would impede progress for whatever I was trying to do. The struggle of my will against time was creating only negativity, impatience was a waste of my energy and emotions, and it was useless. And like you said, if people know you're impatient, they can use it against you. I discovered that things are going to happen according to God's own plan, whether or not that's fast enough to suit you is of no consequence to the grand scheme of things. But if you commit to use the "waiting time" either to do something constructive, or to simply appreciate the small things you would not ordinarily have time to notice, then i think you're on the way toward patience.
So, know how we're always saying that we feel like we're on similar journeys lately? We can add this to that, because even though I've always tried very hard to be a patient person, this publishing thing is taking that and throwing it right out the window. I am determined to enjoy and really live every step of this process - the whole idea of "be happy for this moment, this moment is your life," but it is SO difficult to stay patient as I wait for agent responses. Working on a new book is helping, but I'd be lying if I said I don't check my email upwards of twenty times every day.
Patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue ... maybe if we say it enough, it'll become more practice than theory?
Jena, you bring up some wonderful points. Thanks! Loved your comment.
Shari- I am praying for you every single day. You can do this!
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