Yeah, so… I still don’t have the patience I thought I would at this age. I thought that by the time I was an adult, I would have learned patience.
Nope. Still learning!
That’s not to say that I haven’t gotten better — oh, I have! This is true particularly in professional contexts, as those who have worked with me 5-10 years ago might attest. But I still have a long way to go before I am as patient as I WANT to be.
In the last 24h, things I have been impatient about — while on holiday (!) — have included a crying baby next door, a woman who refused to sit down on the bus (thereby holding up the entire bus from departing), not receiving coffee when I wanted it, not receiving wine when I wanted it, lack of water hot enough, a restaurant host not seating us right away, internet speeds, and rain.
Most of these are ridiculous. I’m embarrassed to list them here, but I do anyway, for the sake of illustration of my truth. Granted, NONE of these situations of impatience today caused me to become angry or verbally irritated. Just… impatient.
I’m reminded of one of my favorite affirmations. It’s by Yogi Bhajan.
http://www.3ho.org/articles/patience-pays-affirmation
I sometimes struggle with his use of the word “God” or “Creator,” but I fully understand and appreciate the context in which he means it in this affirmation, even if I’m not sure about the “god” concept. Basically, I paraphrase the whole thing to mean this: “Suck it up and shut the @*$?! up already. Stop fussing around and just chill the hell out. Everything you want and need will happen, and you’re probably screwing it all up right now by trying to manipulate it yourself anyway. Have you no trust in anything?”
I wish I could be reminded of this when I’m in those moments where I just want what I want and don’t want to wait or think about it.
Today’s truth: Patience pays, right?
