Patience: Waiting Without Complaining

“You can overcome anything if you don't bellyache.” Bernard M. Baruch

Many accomplishments start out as dissatisfaction. To see something and think about how to make improvements is a great way to walk through the world. This is different from complaining. When you don’t like something and you work on solving the problem, that's productive.

However, when I can’t change "it" - whatever "it" happens to be - traffic, the weather, the price of tea in China - I struggle to keep the complaint to myself. To me, it feels as if I'm just "stating the obvious," but to others my words can seem impatient and whining.

Maybe you can relate.

In fact after seeing this behavior all around me, I realize how unbecoming impatience is.

Think about it this way: Does the world really need to see a status update, a tweet or, especially, to HEAR about our latest frustration?

No one has promised us an easy path, so we need to get over it.

The answer to “why me?” is “why not me?”

What helps reset my perspective is when I remember to ask myself, “why do I get to live indoors, drink clean water, not worry about malaria and be able to worship freely?”  When I think about those facts and ask “why me?” I mellow ever so slightly.

No one enjoys the company of whiners.

Today, I'm aiming for patience.