Are You Patient?
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The Universe sends us messages all the time, doesn’t it? But do you hear them?
A while back, Husband and I stopped at a restaurant on the East Side for a drink before meeting friends for dinner. I ordered a glass of rose and he ordered some kind of rye whiskey. The waiter placed a glass in front of me, poured me a taste, and then placed the bottle down in front of me.
The name of the wine? Patience.
I looked at this word, and smiled as I sipped. The wine was delicious.
And as I drank it and talked with my man, I thought about patience. How it is one thing I wish I had far more of. Because, truth be told, I’m a very impatient person. I am a progress-monger. I want everything perfect and lovely and now.
I wonder: Is patience either something we have or don’t? Is this a fixed part of our personality, our hard-wiring? Or is it something we can work on? I sincerely hope it’s the latter.
Are you patient? Do you think we can become more patient and if so, how? Do you think life is riddled with messages it is our job to hear?
That does sound like a delicious wine.
As for patience? I think it is a virtue that builds over time with certain personalities developing it faster than others. I would also suggest it comes with the ability to delay gratification.
Now, am I patient? In some things, yes. In others, no. Each of these are also affected by hormones during my cycle and when I have been pregnant. Basically, I am patient about 2 weeks out of every month.
I am definitely not patient. For the most part, I’m okay with that, but when it comes to caring for my children, I certainly wish I had more patience.
I do think that patience is something you come by naturally. In my day job, I help to develop personality assessments, and on one of our scales, “patient” is paired with “driven.” People fall on one end of the scale or the other, or sometimes in the middle. Keep in mind that the world needs people with drive, too!
While we all have a natural place on that continua, there are certainly contexts in which it’s desirable to stretch ourselves. I try to be aware of my inpatience when it’s directed toward other people, keeping in mind that some people simply move at a different pace.
Great question!
I never really thought of myself as a patient person, but I find myself more so now that ever before. My guess is that it comes with practicing delayed gratification, of seeing the journey as being as important as the end result, and being able to appreciate that while journeying, not just in retrospect. I think it’s something we can all work towards, even if we weren’t born with a natural tendency towards patience.
For me, I know it is a direct result of marrying a very patient man, and becoming immersed in our farm. The things I do today won’t necessarily come to fruition for days, weeks, months, maybe a year or more. That, in the beginning, was SO hard. But now, I’m seeing results of some things I did some time ago, and it is so good, and worth it, that it inspires me to try more, take more risks, and wait to see what comes. For instance, we dabble in making our own wine. It’s a real bummer when, after 6 or 12 months, the stuff ends up undrinkable. But when it’s good, you savor that, and want more, but can appreciate the price in time & labor, which makes it all the sweeter.
I think patience can definitely be learned! Although, some of us are born with more affinity towards patience than others – it doesn’t mean those of us (myself included – type A all the way!) can’t build our reserve of patience.
I love that the Universe sent you a message in a bottle (so to speak)!!