I Believe in Patience

I learned one of my most important life lessons at my father’s kitchen counter. But it wasn’t one of those lessons where I did something wrong and my dad gave me a lecture. Actually, this life lesson wasn’t taught by my father at all. This particular lesson was learned through nights and nights of sitting with my sister Caroline, two years my senior, helping her with her homework.

I would take out pennies, Cheerios, sweetener packets, anything really, trying to teach her how to add. You know, 2+2, 4+5, that sort of thing. We would go through workbook pages for years, yet she never progressed past the first-grade level.

From this, I learned the art of patience.

I believe patience is an art and one we all should consciously practice each day.

I am still challenged by it myself. Just the other week I got angry at her for calling me 15 times one night – something I typically handle with ease. No one is perfect, and in relationships with others, we often forget to be patient as we would want them to be with us. We don’t understand why they are doing what they are doing. We get angry. It happens all the time. But should it?

I believe in patience because it is a form of kindness. A way of understanding other beings. It’s a trait that shows self-awareness and desire to do good, be good. I believe it’s a force that can create much more good in the world than you can imagine.

It’s the customer who tips her while she’s working her job at the grocery store even if she takes a little longer. It’s the teacher who taught her how to use a calculator at the age of 16 when my penny counting plan clearly wasn’t working. It’s the person who holds the door for you. It’s the friend who carefully listens to you talk for hours.

Technology has no doubt generated a society of impatient people. We want to communicate quickly. We want overnight shipping. We want immediate answers. “All things come to those who wait”. We hear it all the time, but don’t know how to implement it into our daily lives.

Impatience can come in many forms. It’s the person who called her stupid because they didn’t take the time to understand her first. It’s the person honking at you in morning traffic when there’s nowhere to go. It’s someone cutting you off before you finish your sentence.

Patience is a skill that takes time to develop, but all you have to do is consciously try to practice the art of patience each day. There is no destination. That is why it is both an art and a skill that must be practiced.

In my own life, I was forced to develop patience at a young age. I didn’t have much of a choice.

For that, I am thankful to my sister and the many nights at that kitchen counter.

If you are patient, and you listen, you may begin to understand.

And we may all hope, that if we practice patience with those around us, we may receive it back ourselves.