Patience

I am probably like a lot of people…patience is not my best quality. There is nothing like raising a child that will show you that loud and clear, and I remember when my son was young being impressed daily with my lack of patience. If I had known then what I know now, I would have handled it a little differently, had a bit more self compassion and tried more deep breathing. But still, 20+ years later, I know I am not as patient as I would like to be. This summer has reminded me of that…because it won’t stop raining! I don’t mind rain at all and sometimes find joy in it, especially when the well and the pasture are getting too dry, but endless rain leaves me frustrated. This year it is particularly hard because there are still some kinks to work out in our new building and the rain is making it much more difficult to get those taken care of. It’s been raining for most of the last 2 weeks, and the next week’s forecast shows high chance of rain every day. I can’t change that. I have no control over that. I have to wait for the rain to stop to move forward and I don’t know when that will be. I feel impatient. So here is what I want to do. I want to take a few deep breaths every time I feel the impatience rising to the surface. I want to smile every time I feel the urge to say an unhelpful or unkind work because I’m frustrated. I want to count my blessing each day rather than dwell on the endless rain. I need to keep practicing those things to increase my ability to be patient. I hope those are practices that will help you gain more patience and calmness is whatever area of your life has you feeling impatient.