Word Of The Day

Today's word is one I ponder about often:

PATIENCE
Noun

*The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.


I, and everyone else that knows me for a long time, used to consider me impatient for most of my life. I was impatient in waiting in lines, I was impatient in waiting for the food to arrive in restaurants, I was impatient about growing up and living on my own (couldn't wait to be 18), I was impatient in conversations and would interrupt (still a bad habit of mine) and talked a mile a minute. But lately I've discovered patience has grown on me. And looking into the definition above, I realize that it is my capacity to accept that has grown exponentially. I now realize I cannot move time, and I cannot control it and the flow of things. I can only really 'control' my thoughts, my perspective, my point of view. 

So when I wait in lines - I now focus on the moment and see what I can discover from the waiting game. If boredom arrives - I focus on being CURIOUS about the so-called boredom, and unsurprisingly the boredom disappears. Curiosity is the medicine for all impatient reactions. Or, perhaps ALL reactions.
When I wait for food in restaurants - I tell myself that 'the longest I wait for food, the more I will enjoy it.' So I try to add OPTIMISM to the mix and soon enough my impatience turns into excited anticipation. And in conversations - I try to listen more and talk less.
Trust that being quiet doesn't necessarily mean I am not heard. 
And being impatient, doesn't mean I can control time or the situation in front of me. 
In a state of patience - I ACCEPT that I have no control to begin with.