Impatience: decoding the flaw and the disadvantage

Impatience

Out of my weaknesses this may be the one I struggle with the most. I have a minimal span of patience when it comes to certain things in life such as driving, repeating things more than three times, waiting on someone who is an hour late, dealing with incompetent people, and attempting to get a task done without interruption. My impatience cost me a price, I couldn’t just wait until I arrived at the yogurt shop to text a friend or my brother, I had to do it right then in slow close range traffic on Auburn Folsom and I did it because, oh I sure thought I could. I smacked right into a Dodge Truck trailer and destroyed my entire front end and almost got myself killed…. Now hold on a second. It’s Thursday afternoon Valentines day, I have no work the next day, and I am in a giddy mood, distracted by music and social interaction. A clerk at a gas station was trying to charge me twice for my fuel; I firmly told her she had no right to charge a duplicate credit. I lost directions to a house party and began to discourage myself into going and became impatient with my discontent at having lost my way and running into complete strangers. I waited on someone to come to dinner and they never came. How do we measure patience, and in whom or how do we establish that rule in which the position to be impatient applies? The saying, “stop and smell the roses” directly states its intent: pause and appreciate the time given; put your phone away and focus on your driving and the flow of cars, appreciate the lady who is trying to assist you at the gas station, stop and call friends for correct directions, take a deep breath and for heaven sakes, relax. Right? Type A personality sticks to a deadline a time frame, and a specific set of direction. Any altercation and there can be uneasiness and or anxiety the precursor to impatience. This flaw can be a disadvantage in the work place because rushing a task will show it won’t turn out thorough. Impatience means you will be on time though. I work on my impatience and as silly as it sounds self-talk is a means of distraction or listening to tunes that aren’t too much adrenaline pounding. I think of it as a challenge, and I hope I can become more understanding and trust God to assist me with this improvement. I was watching a commercial the other day about texting and driving, it was a heavy message where a woman was mentioning that her daughter died and they showed the text message she sent before she drove into oncoming traffic. A reckless decision, a sense of urgency and distraction, this impatient individual chose to respond to a text in a hurry during a critical time when a person’s attention is most needed. I fell to my knees and I put my head in my hands. That could have been me, I thought. I also read an article how people have alienated relationships because of their impatience and reckless behavior; try looking at the divorce rate and you wonder who is at fault or what exactly led to all the mess. Could it be anger, cheating, money? I feel as if the root is impatience with how things are going. Chalk it up to my own person impatience, or my lack of common sense, but impatience teaches a harsh lesson to almost anyone regardless of what happened. I have practiced and I am best with children, but I seem to have more patience with friends and kids than family (laughs). I know I can give myself permission to SLOW DOWN and I must, because the consequences of any situation are not worth it. I always dreamt I would meet a man who would introduce patience to me, or maybe would play devil’s advocate and get me to calm down more; i.e. live a little (which clearly and explicitly describes the purpose of making a bucket list for now. Essentially if I slow down and appreciate a moment I won’t miss it and wish I could get it back. I think I can do it!