Two Quarts Low of Patience

 “Grant me the serenity to accept that which cannot be changed, courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”  

 

This is one of my favorite pictures of my granddaughter, Chandra.  She is grown now and I admire her mindfulness. 

We are born with no patience. A baby gets tossed into this world from a warm, dark, soft, and constantly fed environment into a loud, cold, and noisy room. Doctors used to hold the baby upside down and slap its behind to stimulate it to cry and take its first breath on its own. It makes sense that we started our lives being impatient for everything we needed.  

I believe that everyone then builds up a certain amount of patience after their caring parents respond to their needs, and they trust in the universe for things to be fair. Unfortunately, it is a hard lesson to learn that things are not fair. My parents treated my brother and me differently. I remember asking why Stan could ride his bike to the store alone, and I couldn’t. My mom used the 1950s phrase, “because he is a boy.” 

Today, I feel like I’m about 2 quarts low in patience. I’m trying to figure out why and overcome it. I seek out the shortest line at the grocery store, even when I have plenty of time. Keith and I prefer Mobile Orders and Quick Service at the Disney Parks in order to get our food faster. We’re not starved; we’re merely impatient. If someone doesn’t respond to my email that day, I wonder why and start worrying. Did my email get blocked? Is the person okay? Did I say something wrong? Worry, worry, and 2 quarts of patience draining out of my system.

 My New Year’s resolution is to cure my impatience. Cure it? Well, that might be rather ambitious, but I’m going to try. Here are the things that I’m going to try;

Being in a line. At the grocery store, I’m going to use this time to give my brain a workout. I’m going to try to guess the total of items that I’m buying or look at the candy bars and see how many words I can make out of “Snickers.” When I’m in a long line for the PeopleMover at Disney Parks, I’m going to get out my iPhone and click on the Fitness App and do my Breathing, which I often forget to do for one minute.  

No response to letters and emails. I’m going to ask myself if I need a response to enjoy the day. If I sent a gift, Do I really NEED a thank you or acknowledgment? If they got the check and cashed it, then I know they are okay. If I sent an email, was a response required? If so, I’ll ask for that in the email and put a date. Otherwise, I’ll forget about it. I did my part, and I’ll forget about it.

My writing career. My last job had instant gratification. I sold a product, booked an engagement, or signed a contract – usually within hours of my proposal. This new writing career tries my patience. I will send a query and don’t hear a reply (if any) for months or years. I must remind myself that JK Rowling got rejected 12 times for the best synopsis that I’ve ever read. She is now a billionaire. I don’t need to be a billionaire, and I’m not as talented as she is. I’m analyzing my need to write and leave a part of me in this world. I’ve already done that; my bookshelf at Amazon is full of things I’ve written, and I am proud of my two unpublished middle-grade books, and anytime I want, I can self-publish. You can read these at sandijerome.com, click on Books, then notice the links. Time for me to remember the serenity prayer, “Grant me the serenity to accept that which cannot be changed, courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”  Please grant me patience too!

Amazon Writer's page   Sandra Jerome 

https://www.amazon.com/Sandra-Jerome/e/B09S3RNRKL/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_2