September: Be patient.

September

Be patient.

- Work to see the bigger picture and remember what matters in the end.

- Envision why I’m being impatient; from there, resolve to let go or take action… either way, chill out.

- Look for patterns and try to jot them down or remember for later.
- Listen to calming music.

- Meditate longer (10-15 minutes).

- Keep things positive and in perspective.

- Breathe and count.

- Act patient, feel patient (the ol’ trick-your-brain trick).

Patience is something we could all use a little more of. As the wikiHow on patience pointed out, we’re so used to the technology of our daily routine being an instantaneous thing that when we have to rely on others to take care of something or for a process to be handled a certain way that doesn’t produce immediate results, most of us freak out. I know personally, when I’m impatient in the office, my agitation is palpable. Same for a certain officer I work with. When he wants to leave, you can feel it and it puts everyone on edge. It’s this awful cloud that hangs over all of us and makes us nervous. We don’t want to upset him but at the same time, there’s nothing we can do about it. I don’t want to be like that or have that effect on people. I don’t want people to try describing me to someone who’s never met me and say something like, “Well, she’s kind of difficult to work with. She gets impatient and it’s really awkward in the office. She puts her needs above others.”

And think about relationships. When I was with my ex and I would get impatient, it just put her on edge. She was a naturally patient person and usually saw things from multiple sides, so she was able to combat my bouts of impatience… but imagine if we were both patient people. An agitating situation would have instead been something we could have handled easily and calmly, together as a team. Instead, she usually had to work to calm me down, which would in turn just work her up. Not a great combo. In the end, I always felt like the jerk.

Patience is most definitely something I need help with. So to start my exploration, I of course ‘googled’ it. At first, I laughed at the fact that there’s a wikiHow for being patient, but after reading it, I thought there were some helpful tips. In fact, my list above mostly came from that source, because of how obvious and helpful the points were.

Working to see the bigger picture is at the top of the list because in the end, that’s what it all boils down to. I can spin myself up or get grouchy with everyone around me or make everyone uncomfortable so that I get my way… or I can slow down, assess what’s important about the situation at hand, and handle it. (“Handle your shit, Fabius, please.")

I’ll take option B.

A big part of being happy, to me, means being surrounded by positivity. If I’m doing my part to lighten the mood in my environment by remaining calm, open, and patient during times of inevitable stress, then I 100% believe in the ability to attract positive results.

Ultimately, we’re all humans, and we deserve a little slack from other humans. To me, that’s what patience really is- just giving some slack.

“Stop holding yourself and the world around you to unattainable standards. Sure, we'd all be more patient if babies didn't cry, dishes didn't break, computers didn't crash, and people didn't make mistakes - but that's never going to happen. Expecting the world to run smoothly is like beating your head against the wall. Give yourself a break!”

Thanks, wikiHow…

-Jamie