Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Patience is not my virtue

Back in the good ol' Texas Tech days, I was a student mentor to about 20 different athletes. I helped them with their homework, their time management, study skills, and as we got to know each other better, we also talked about relationships, family, and some pretty deep issues. I loved the job. And as most colleges invest in their athletes, so did Tech. The students had to take a "Life Skills" course where they learned about how they can better function as both a person and an athlete. In it, everyone was asked to fill out a 150+ questionnaire online through a program called "Strengthsquest." At the end of the test, you were given your top five "strengths" that layed out the framework of the way you "ticked" and encouraged you to use those strengths in your daily life. All of my athletes took their quizzes and as mentors, we were asked to take them, too. My top five strengths were:

1. Achiever - pushed yourself to the limit, could also become discontent easily
2. Relator - met people where they were at
3. Beliefs - strong core values/ethics
4. Can't remember exactly what it was called, but basically found potential in people and encouraged them to reach it
5. Competitor - have a strong will to win

No where on that list...much less in my top five...was the word "Patient." Because I suck at being patient.

I've been smacked on the side of the head relentlessly with this issue lately. I was in the process of transferring departments at the hospital I work at from Mother/Baby to Critical Care and from nights to days. I found out last week that due to me taking maternity leave during my RN orientation period, I had to wait to transfer until the beginning of October...if a job is available at that time. Totally understandable...but the lesson was Be Patient. I really want to finish losing my baby weight but my thyroid has been messed up off and on for the last 7 months and it makes losing the weight hard. Be Patient. I have salivated over the front-load washer and dryers since they first came out and wanted them with a pedestal in a really cool color. Our 25-year-old dryer decided to die this morning and well, we can't really fit a cool new pedestal dryer into the budget. Be Patient. Mother's Day morning, all I wanted was to sit down and eat a fabulous buffet and have a mimosa at Blue Mesa in Fort Worth with my family. Naturally, my child who ALWAYS acts perfect in public throws the biggest, longest fit I've ever seen him throw as we are about to be seated after waiting for 45 minutes. I go to the car, try to nurse him, rock him, console him...finally, after 30 minutes, he falls asleep in the Baby Bjorn carrier which makes it extremely difficult to thoroughly enjoy my meal. Even for something so small as eating my stupid brunch...Be Patient.


My mom always says that if there's someone in our life that we have a hard time getting along with, you can pretty much bet on the fact that God will bring someone else in our life just like them until we learn how to deal with them. I guess that probably goes for lessons like learning patience, too.

This isn't a fluffy, life-is-perfect-and-I've-learned-my-lesson post. Where yes, I completely know and believe that I am unbelievably blessed, patience is not my virtue quite yet. I have openly acknowledging that it's a really tough concept for me, so I guess I won that battle... but I have this gut feeling that the war isn't over yet.

"A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly." - Proverbs 14:29

2 comments:

  1. Mmmmmm... Blue Mesa

    Yeah, I don't have a comment for the blog other than it is brutally honest and that's why the Duran's love you and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I did bust out in laughter reading, "I suck at being patient."

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  2. I really loved that job!! Your mom's wisdom is spot on!!

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