A Life Worth Living

On a normal Tuesday morning one of my boys was having a challenging time attending to his task. It is not unusual for my daydreamer to vacillate between worlds in his mind. As I observed this battle of the mind play out during math, he blurted out, “Mom, I need to tell you something.” From the look on his face, I knew whatever he wanted to say had nothing to do with school so I promptly assured him I was more than happy to listen to what he had to say just as soon as he was finished with his work. 

Here is how the rest of the conversation ensued.

Son: (Sigh) … but I want to tell you now, or I might forget.

Me: I will be ready to listen as soon as you are done. You just must wait.

Son: You know I don’t like waiting.

Me: Honey, this is a great opportunity for you to grow in patience.

Son: Who wants to grow in patience? I am the most impatient person.

We both laughed at my son’s self-declaration because we recognized the truth in his words. 

As I watched my sweet boy return to his task, I identified with what he had just said. Who wants to grow in patience? Who wants the painstaking difficult work of waiting and accepting delay without complaining or getting angry? I relate with my son because I too suffer from impatience. When confronted with delay, when things don’t go as planned, I find a growing restlessness and short temperedness instead of calm and quietness of spirit. 

The truth is we can’t escape waiting. So many things require us to wait. So then how do we wait well? The remedy for impatience is patience. While cultivating this virtue admittedly takes work, the result is far worth the effort.

The next blog will discuss the virtue of patience and ways to grow in it.