Impatience is my middle name. If you look up the word in the dictionary you'll see my picture next to it. Impatience has been something I've been working on for YEARS. I think I'm getting better at it, but I still have a long way to go. So when I read Judith's entry this morning I knew this one was just for ME! The practice I've recently adopted is that when I start to feel a twinge of impatience I immediately focus on my breath and mantra (so-hum). It has gone a long way to helping me relax into the moment and not become satan's love-child. I am happy to report that today I only felt that twinge once while waiting at the dentist's office. There was an elderly lady in front of me who had pretty much emptied her (large) purse onto the counter and was digging through it. I needed to fill out some new patient paperwork and wanted to get everything over with sooner rather than later. When the twinge hit I reminded myself (1) her digging in her purse was not a personal attack on me or my time (2) where was the damn fire? what was my hurry to have someone dig at my gums? (3) I wasn't in my cube so be bloody thankful for that! I actually didn't even need my breath/mantra tool because I'd already relaxed. Thank goodness!
Oddly enough, before I even looked at today's entry I read a brief article in a flyer called Taste For Life that talked about patience being a virtue. They cited a 2003 report linking impatience and the risk of hypertension in young adults (granted I've not been a young adult in years, but I still took it personally). Another study done in 2007 by European researchers found that impatient people are more likely to experience financial insecurity. Yikes! Oh...and they say impatient folks are tenser and fatter. Well all of the above is certainly enough for me to take it seriously.
Namaste'
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