Are you good at waiting? … I will admit… I’m a work in progress. 🙂 On a good day, I’m a trooper. 2 hour line for a rollercoaster? No problem, I’m here all day. 1 hour delay in Pennsylvania? (it’s always Pennsylvania…) Still, not a problem when I’ve got my trusty, rusty good mood cap on.
But change to the bigger stuff… yes, yes, I know, you’ve read or heard of the book “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (and it’s all small stuff).” It’s a fantastic book- I’ve read it too. Actually, I listened to it on CD (before Audible, people!) because I wasn’t patient enough to sit down and read it! Just tell me what I need to know and I’ll be on my way, buddy…
Under what I consider the perfect circumstances, meaning people are waiting the way I think they should wait, no one is rude, everyone is fun to talk to, the weather is beautiful, I’m not tired, hungry, thirsty, in a hurry or in pain… when I have everything I need to wait comfortably, I’m a trooper. (That’s probably what I should have said in the first paragraph… 🙂 )
But give me someone running their mouth, CUTTING THE LINE, or taking what I think should be mine and Houston, we have a problem. Especially the latter. AmIRight?!
So how do we remain (or go back to) patience in a world that is so high paced and instantaneous? I mean, my kids think that boxed mac & cheese takes “too long” to cook and will be like, “Ah mom, don’t you have something you can microwave for us?” (They are 4 and 6!) Seriously?…
Now that I’ve admitted to being a work-in-progress, I will tell you how I work on making progress:
- Let it go. Yes, you know that book that irritates me because it is so RIGHT? …yeah, he’s on to something. Don’t’ sweat the small stuff. And it’s all small stuff. So let it go. If you feel inspired, sing the song from Frozen while you release the stress 🙂
- Relax. We don’t take enough time to do that, do we? Especially not true relaxation. Sometimes we binge-watch Netflix and think we are relaxing but if we end the experience going to bed and feeling stressed, we didn’t relax.
- Shut it off. Huh? Yup, this is mandatory from time to time. You have to give yourself a day to be Amish (that’s what I call it anyway 🙂 ). Turn off your phone, your Apple watch, your fitbit, the TV, laptop, tablet, radio, etc. All of it. The only things you can keep on is your electricity/heat/AC. 🙂 The serenity that will come having a day of social media silence, of being disconnected, will actually help you RECONNECT- to yourself, your family and to what really matters. (And I don’t know how to break it to you, but the new heels your acquaintance wore out on her date night out, WHEN YOU KNOW she just told you yesterday that she sprained her ankle and now she’s in 3 inch stiletto heels!! really doesn’t… matter. Nope. It doesn’t.
- Which brings me to my next point: Avoid the drama. I get it. It is easy to get sucked into the vortex of ranting and raving to your girlfriend about that girl and her “sprained ankle”. But what’s the point? Something I always ask myself is, at what cost? What cost am I paying to do this (whatever it is!)? Am I shelling out precious commodities like peace of mind and trading it in for frustration? If so, it’s not worth the purchase.
- Decide what matters. Not everything in your life gets to be a big deal, an urgency or an emergency. Sorry. In fact, if you constantly live in that state, it can cause physical health issues as well as mental health issues. You have to pick a few top values (I suggest 3) and live by those. Then weigh your decisions (including how you are going to respond to what happens) based on those values. I think you will find that it is in the best interest of your core values to “Keep Calm and Carry On”. 🙂
Bobbie-jo Hurt 