Update on the car troubles: I passed emissions! I will put in a quick post when I hear word about whether or not I have to pay the $20 parking ticket. At the beginning of the year, I made a goal to work on three characteristics throughout the year, four months at a time. I haven't decided on the other two yet, but patience was the first one I chose. Since making that a goal, I have found that patience is an essential element in every aspect of life! And I have been amazed at how I have had my patience challenged through various little (and bigger) life situations. And so this post is dedicated to a few observations I've had about patience:- Patience requires a widened perspective. If we are caught up in the moment, we don't see the outside influences and potential vision that would help us be patient in the moment. Case in point: I may get very involved and anxious about one grade for a class, but in the scheme of things, I can get a job just fine without an A.
- Patience is a time test. Almost always, patience requires waiting. The first moments are most difficult, perhaps, but as you learn to live with that waiting period and be patient, you learn more patience. It's like that quote from C.S. Lewis: "You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later." I had a tire fixed in December, and I had to wait two hours! At first, I was very put out, but as I settled into the experience (and read a very interesting magazine on country home decorating), I increased my tolerance and patience.
- Much of patience deals with attitude. We have a choice about how we want to react in every situation we confront. We can choose to act in a myriad of ways! But I have found that the reaction of patience is the one that lends itself to the best long-term results.
- Patience does not mean weakness. It is a strength. It is evidence of substantial character development. It does not mean passivity, either. You can be passionately patient. In fact, the two can dove-tail together beautifully. Take, for example, my passion with helping people out of poverty. If I couple that with patience, I will be in the trenches for the long run, searching for solutions. I won't give up in just a little while, but will wait it out and continue searching.
- To have that kind of patience I just described, you must have faith in the labor you are pursuing. If you don't believe or hope that it is good and worthy, then you can't have the patience to continue going. This is a very explicit gospel parallel.
And finally, just so I can post a picture, I will post a picture of a 1000-piece puzzle Matt and I made last week. That required a fair amount of patience to fit everything together.