Patience is not the ability to wait but how you act while you’re waiting. ~Joyce Meyer
Frustration doesn’t open doors. Patience and perseverance does. This is a hard one to learn. Sometimes people don’t do what we want them to do or even what they say they will do. If we react with frustration, or even worse, cop an attitude, then it only shuts the door tighter. We can’t force people to act the way we want them to. We can’t bend others to our will. All that will do is alienate them and bring out the worst in them. We must show patience.
People let us down from time to time. We make choices on how we react and those choices determine the outcome. This doesn’t mean that you need to be passive. Being patient isn’t synonymous with being a pushover. We must have boundaries and recognize when we are being used, treated unfairly or facing unreasonable demands. But when we do need to stand up for what is right, we can do it with compassion and patience.
I write this because I have found that I’ve needed a great deal of patience in my life recently. I understand that I am being given opportunities to grow but sometimes I REALLY wish the lesson could be finished. Like NOW! The reality is, I know learning patience will be a lifelong lesson and that I will continue to face the allure of frustration. My hope is to be patient with my progress.
If you believe in something enough, then move forward with patience, compassion and perseverance. Good things will come.