Patience

Patience

My resolve is getting tested almost every day as I’m thinking about patience—or more honestly, my lack of it.

Yeah, we all live in a world that moves very fast. Everything is on demand, instant, optimized, and customized. I can give you endless examples of how we live in a disposable society. Everything changes so fast, and who has time to wait, wash dishes, or—let me be specific—I don’t know how to wait. Not in line, and not in traffic. I personally can’t do it.

I am somewhat allergic to lines, especially long ones. Endless lines are the products of inefficiency. It used to be that the Motor Vehicle Department tested your resolve and patience. After COVID, they got much better with online appointments, but yet, there are stores with lines—and those annoying ones. As I was waiting in a Verizon store, in the middle of the frustration, I remembered that old cliché: “Good things come to those who wait.” We treat it like a cliché, but maybe, just maybe, it’s more like a quiet truth, one that only reveals itself when we slow down long enough to notice it.

Sometimes the best things in life—growth, clarity, healing, and certainly love—don’t arrive on demand. They don’t arrive on our own timetable or schedule; they unfold slowly. Sometimes the delay is where the growth happens. You pause just to give yourself space to reflect. The waiting room becomes your quiet teacher, so to speak.

Patience isn’t passive. I need to learn how to relinquish control and trust in my process of becoming more patient. I believe that relinquishing that control will make me a little bit more mindful of my surroundings. I may start noticing the people standing in line, and perhaps strike up a conversation with somebody interesting.

I’m on that journey, and I’m on the journey from East to West. Just there with you for the next couple of hours. New stuff, old stuff, eclectic, and more right here on East to West.

Tonight’s Playlist