Making Friends

During a dinner last night I was asked what it is that I'm not good at.  The first thing that sprang to mind was… being patient.  This has always been my challenge and even today I struggle greatly with it as my friends will readily attest to.   How does one learn patience?  I saw a TV commercial the other day in which the characters were watching grass grow, turtles racing, and waiting in line at the DMV in order to learn this elusive skill. Sadly there are no turtles near-by so I'm stuck with my own devices.

I was taught by my teachers to sit, which is what I've been doing lately.  What I've realized is that you can become comfortable with your impatience. In other words, just sit and watch it for a while, pay attention to how it manifests itself within you.  How does it physically feel? Where does it come from, and more importantly, where does it go when it leaves?  I've found that looking objectively at such feelings may not make them go away, but it does allow you to become friends with them, accept them, and not to be threatened by them.

Impatience, like all emotions; happiness, sadness, jealousy are just temporary and only exist in our minds.  They are not tangible, we cannot hold them, so what we choose to do with them is our decision.  I choose to sit with them and make them my friends.