January 30th, 2006

Patience!!

Oh lordy, this is something most of us could use more of!! I don’t mean to the point you have too much patience where you end up screwing yourself out of jobs, promotions, pay raises, or let family, friends, and significant others walk all over you. That would be bad, almost submissive. Patience is one of those words we have heard since childhood. "Just be patient," parents say, and it somewhat annoyed us because that meant waiting! Even as adults, patience equals waiting, and we are such a fast food society we don’t want to wait, we want it now! Well remember what we called kids with those attitudes... brats! So as adults, when we don’t have patience and get all upset and butt hurt, we are actually being a childlike brat! Do you remember the clichés, "good things come to those that wait" and "anything worth having is hard to get?" While I am sure there are exceptions, those clichés are dead on. Let’s take losing weight. Taking it slow and being patient will pay off, because the longer it takes the healthier the weight loss is and therefore it will stay off. Now while it took some patience to get through it, it is well worth it in the end. Money and patience go hand in hand. You have to start from the bottom and work your way up, so you may not get to your money making goal overnight, but over time, and with patience (and a ton of hard work, of course) you will succeed. If you don’t have the patience to see your goal through with your career plans, you may give up too soon or fall for some get rich quick scam. Also, making a big purchase such as a house, car, electronics, furniture, etc… takes patience otherwise you may fall for the "better get it now, cause it will be gone tomorrow" garbage. Yeah, maybe that one will be gone, but when you have patience, you know there will be another one and eventually the one you want! Having patience not only helps your career goals and financial goals, but also helps your personal relationships. Anyone with children will tell ya, you need patience. If not, the job as a parent only becomes harder on you. With all the stresses that come with parenting, why put unnecessary stress there that doesn’t have to be?!?!? Patience for sure helps with your friendships and your relationship with a significant other because you realize we are not all built the same, therefore you have the patience to see each through their situation while handling each one differently. Have you ever seen someone with true patience? It’s a beautiful thing! They are calm, sure of themselves, the situation and its outcome, just damn peaceful! Someone who doesn’t have patience is just an ugly sight. They are high strung, jittery, pissy, and at any moment you are expecting them to punch a wall or fall down on the ground kicking and screaming!! Most importantly, having patience will help the relationship you have with yourself. Lord knows there is no one harder on yourself than you! So take a deep breath, make realistic goals and have the patience with you to see yourself through the goal. One of the lovely definitions of patience is this: the act or power of calmly or contentedly waiting for something due or hoped for. So while you are working hard toward whatever your goal or next move in life is, remember to also balance it out with patience, because... It is a Wonderful Life!!

Got any comments on what you just read? Drop me an email.