Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Patience

Patience is not one of my stronger virtues. I usually like to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am not very patient when it comes to knowing what is happening or should I say NOT knowing what is happening. I am a planner....I like to have a plan. I like to know how, when, where, why and who. I am the one in class who will ask a million questions until I get the exact information I need for my brain to process it correctly. I am not very good with stock/generic answers.

I have been struggling this last week with patience. I want to start working on the baby's room. I want to start purchasing clothes, toys, bedding and necessities for our little one. I want to know when we will be travelling so I can start making travel arrangements. I want to be able the answer the question "So, have you heard anything yet?". This past weekend someone asked me this, they just happened to ask it at the exact moment that I was NOT in the mood to answer this question. I apologize to H for my not-so-nice answer.

Our adoption wait is trying the last thread of what little patience I have. Seriously, I need to know at least how much longer we will have to wait. If I knew then I could plan for it - seriously! I WOULD plan for it.

I don't dare ask because I know the answer will be "Well, we can't tell how long these things take" so I won't bother.

Instead - I have decided to post some quotes on patience - I hope they will help me to gain a little of the quality I so admire in others. Oooooh! I should put some of these on my vision board (I will talk about that another time).

"Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience." - Unknown

"The secret of patience is doing something else in the meanwhile" - Unknown

"Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is concentrated strength" - Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

"Life is all about timing...the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable...attainable. Have the patience, wait it out. It's all about timing." - Stacey Charter

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions." - Rainer Maria Rilke

"The keys to patience are acceptance and faith. Accept things as they are, and look realistically at the world around you. Have faith in yourself and in the direction you have chosen." - Ralph Marston

"Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet." - Jean Jacques Rousseau

Wish me luck!

7 comments:

Julie said...

Rana, something frivolous that I am doing while waiting 'patiently' is creating a wish list. Not knowing gender or age I can really only add books (Jane Kurtz!!!), hair products, music etc. It is actually fun, I am not spending any money and when I do find out who they are I can edit it. Wishlist.com. I know it is shallow and suoerficial and I should really be volunteering for Habitat for Humanity like some people do, but right now it will have to do.

The Turgeon Expansion said...

Rana, I'm the exact same way!! Oh why can't the whole world work the way we think. It just would be so much more effective :)

Dancin' Momma said...

I completely understand! Why do they not understand that some of us are planners, we need time to plan, consider, debate, then plan some more. I mean really is it so difficult? :) I hope things get a little easier for you, let me know if you need to vent.
Shelley

Ricki said...

Ugh! It's so hard isn't it? I wish I could give you the answers you are looking for.
I tried calling you a few times at work the other morning but you were out of the office....we'll have to have a chat soon!
Hugs,
Ricki

hazel said...

Those quotes are perfect - I hope they work for you because they are already working for me :-)

hugs

Ramona said...

I must admit I never made it through your whole post... patience is something I don't even like... When I ever I've prayed for patience, I've only had more and more situations in my life where I've needed to be patient... So patience is not something I even want on this journey. Nope. But without it it gets so frustrating!!! All the best learning to be patient...
Ramona
(and yes, I had to come by to read your blog and a few others...)

Anonymous said...

Good quotes! And all of them true, as much as it pains me to say so. I am also an impatient waiter -- I like to plan well in advance and get organized. It makes the wait doubly frustrating to NOT be able to fill the time with planning and preparing. So I totally get what you're saying.

I never did get any planning and preparing done (as you know), and even when I got there, it was a lot of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, last-minute stuff...

So I think the quotes you posted are perfect -- they're a good way to help adjust your mindset during the process and perhaps will help avoid some of the frustration.