Something On Patience . . .

I was thinking about patience in the middle of the night. It was another one of those nights when I didn’t sleep well and rather than relaxing, I began to think . . . not that thinking can’t be relaxing too. Such a concept is a bit of a paradox, I suppose, but it happens. Exchanging thoughts and ideas with my friends, for example, often can be very relaxing, although that is most likely because it is a bonding experience and feels comfortable.

My mother use to quote the old adage, Patience is a virtue. I wonder. I suppose in some instances it is: when waiting for an unborn child to arrive, when hoping for a sick person to feel better, when waiting for the first tomato of the summer season to ripen, or when waiting for the rain to end and give way to sunshine. Yet sometimes we simply don’t have a choice but to put our patience to the test for it can be painfully elusive or conversely can fester inside like a boil. I am reminded of times such as these: being locked in the middle of stop-and-go traffic at the Novato narrows, being left waiting at a doctor’s office for over an hour, receiving poor service at a restaurant, and most recently, observing the ridiculous bickering, defamation, and complete ineptitude of elected officials who are supposed to be the leaders of our country. In the latter instance, I am quite sure I am not alone in expressing my lack of patience. I don’t understand why these people cannot negotiate, exchange ideas, and come to some compromise. My friends and I don’t always agree, but we are respectful of each other; we don’t shred each other’s character; we listen.

I was always taught that communication did not occur unless the speaking entity was heard and, in turn, that the listener made that clear to the initiating party. Is that so difficult? It seems Congress is so locked up in self-righteous egotism that the only voices they hear are the ones spinning around in their heads and that is putting our beloved country in a precarious state. So, recently, as I have been thinking about this, I am confronted with the challenge of exercising patience. Just saying . . .