Patience Makes Life So Much Easier

�Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.�

- Brian Adams -

I used to live in a big city where impatience, rudeness, frantic rushing and stress were the day to day norm for most people. But not for all. Certainly not for me. I was the big city girl that was miraculously able to wait patiently in lines, in waiting rooms or in traffic jams until my turn (or the opportunity to move forward) came up. Even in the most frustratingly-long check-out lines, I remained remarkably calm while the nerves of many shoppers around me were on the verge of snapping. I didn�t huff and puff and try to blow the customer in front of me down. I didn�t sigh heavily. I didn�t fidget. I din�t even look tense. I just waited, for as long as I had to. Quietly.

There was no great secret or inherent ability to my patience; it was relatively simple: I stayed calm by keeping myself occupied, which in turn kept me from getting frustrated. Because the way I looked at it, why get all bent out of shape about something you can�t do much about? I mean, when I was stuck in a traffic jam, would bouncing up and down in my seat, swearing like a truck driver, beeping my horn frantically, foaming at the mouth or crying like a baby have changed anything? Not a thing; I�d still be stuck in my car - and completely out of my mind. So didn�t it make more sense for me to keep busy by listening to the radio, chatting with passengers or daydreaming about tropical vacations, all of which helped pass the time and kept me sane? I certainly thought so.

It�s not that I never became impatient or annoyed or anxious. I did. Or that I was never pressed for time. I was. But when I knew that there was absolutely nothing I could do about a bad situation, I made the best of it. Furthermore, when I knew in advance that it would probably end up being a bad situation, I prepared for it. For instance: when I had to renew my passport, driver�s license or health care card, I knew that there was a good chance I�d be held hostage for awhile until the second coming at the government office (aka: the black hole) that I had to haul my butt over to. So instead of freaking out when they called out number 25 as I held 132, I whipped out the book I�d brought along and spent the time reading. And since I�m an avid reader that practically inhales books that suited me fine.

Most medical offices, dental clinics and hospital waiting rooms were courteous enough to offer an assortment of things to read. In these places I didn�t need to bring along anything to keep me busy, unless I really wanted to. Oh sure, many times the reading material in these locations was slightly outdated, but usually still interesting. When I took public transport such as the bus, metro or train, I always brought a backpack along stuffed with magazines and books to flip through. (Of course, why three magazines and two novels that I haven�t even started yet is necessary on a 15 or 20-minute trip is still beyond me; I barely had time to finish a couple of articles in a magazine.)

I guess what I�m trying to say is that even though I hated waiting as much as the next person, I refused to lose my cool. Still do. It doesn�t take as much effort anymore to stay composed since I now live in a much smaller city where the pace is a great deal slower, but there are times when we drive back to our previous area to visit friends and family members, and I feel the big city tension wrapping itself around me. And I realize that it wouldn�t take much to get sucked into it and become frustrated and aggressive. Thank goodness I learned to be patient somewhere along the way. I�m not sure how I could have survived the big city, otherwise.

How about you? Are you patient?

I had to include this! It's just too darn funny.