Day #15 of 30 (halfway…Wow!)

Patience…or, what I refer to as the “P” word

I’ll start with this: My husband has told me many times, “Patience is a virtue.” This is like telling a hysterical and emotionally unglued person to just calm down. Works great, am I right? Not! My typical response to my husband is, “Well, I never claimed to be virtuous.” Patience is not one of my virtues although I strive to improve upon it every day–I really do. That being said, I have a few thoughts on the subject.

If you’re driving 10-20 miles below the speed limit on a 2-lane road and there are cars lined up behind you as far as the eye can see, you are an inconsiderate jerk! Pull over and let others pass. Yes, you have the right to drive slowly if you choose, but we also have the right to do the actual speed limit–sometime today! To the elderly man who lives near us who routinely drives 25 mph on our country roads, I sincerely apologize. I’m striving to do better.

If you are one of those people who drives the exact same speed as the car in the other lane thereby blocking every other car behind you, both of you are jerks! I have no apology for you right now, but I’m striving to do better.

I have a confession. I am an impatient driver. I apologize right now if I’ve ever cut you off in traffic, honked or flipped you the bird. I’m striving to do better. Seriously, I am. There are days when I have the purest of intentions to drive only the posted speed limit, to not pass a single car, and to enjoy a nice peaceful drive to my destination. I have, I’m proud to say, actually achieved that goal–like 4 and 1/2 times.

If you are one of those people at the grocery store who waits until every one of your 124 items are scanned and placed in bags before you even begin to remove your payment method, you are a jerk! I apologize to those of you who must do things in a certain order for your emotional stability. I’m striving to do better.

If you’re one of those people in the drive-thru line who pull forward 6 feet and then stop to check your food order, you are a jerk! I mean, seriously. You’re too far from the window at that point to even attempt backing up if you find your order to be incomplete. That, and the car behind you is about 9 inches from your bumper, and the car behind me is 9 inches from my bumper, and so on and so on. Get out the way, park and check your freaking food! Deep breath. I’m striving to do better.

Is a lack of sufficient patience a character flaw or is it simply one’s nature and, more importantly, is it something which can be learned? I’d sincerely like to know the answer to that while I’m striving to do better. Can anyone answer the question? Anyone?! Sometime today would be grrrreat!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Patience is a virtue. Well, I got your virtue right here!

I’m striving to do better.