On Patience...for the sake of love and instrumentals

There is a reason that 1 Corinthians 3:14 starts out with "Love is patient...."

Patience just might be the most underrated quality ever required to make it through life. Downplayed to a point where it gets just kind of skipped...glossed over...forgotten about.

I'm writing on patience because I don't have much and need more. This last year has been all about growth and I have learned a thing or two about patience when it comes to waiting on things to fall into place. But I'm afraid, when it comes to having patience with other people, I'm quite lacking. This is obviously...a problem. If love is first and foremost, patient - this is something worth working out.

Having patience with others is kind of like listening to an good instrumental. I love good music and good musicianship, but I get ancy after a while when I don't hear what I'm looking for (lyrics), even when I know they aren't there. However, if I can take a some time and acquiesce to just listening to it for what it is, I soon find myself really appreciating and enjoying it.

Some more directed thoughts:

So, what does it mean to show patience with people? It means allowing other people to be who they are, and then...respecting it. Recognizing that everyone has their own paradigms, processes, and ways of doing things, patience means being okay with this - it means respecting the way another does life in the same way that I respect the way I do life. It means not imposing my "way" onto another under the guise of best-ness, "efficiency" or anything else. Many of us get paid to do this at work, but in our interpersonal relationships...maybe it's not such a good look.

Having patience with people also means surrendering to the fact that I will not always get what I want from them when I want it. This seems so rudimentary, right? But alas...I know I'm not the only person with this struggle. So many times we want people to respond, react, interact with us in particular ways and then, sometimes they don't. How about being more okay this? How about deferring our expectations until we have a better understanding of the larger picture?

Patience means being consistent when I don't feel like it. How so? Well, it regards to love...maybe it means deciding to love someone even when I wake up and don't feel like it that day. Maybe it means not giving passing sentiments precedence over allegiances. Patience may mean that "stick-to-it-iveness" that sometimes requires me to sit back and wait it out...(ugh)


So, I'm tapped...

Your thoughts on patience?

More than a virtue, patience is a necessity...

I've spent the last six months as one of the many, many DC job seekers. Most of us being new-ish grads, we were welcomed out of the college, or in my case, grad school hallways with substantial student loan debt and dismal job options. When I got here to The District in June I was optimistic and the possibilities seemed endless, right? There were non-profit jobs, think tank jobs, Hill jobs, corporate jobs, small start-up jobs. And yes, there were (are) jobs. However, there are so many more of us.

I searched and searched. Interviewed and was let down again and again. I was frustrated. So, so frustrated. I'm smart, I'm educated, I have enough work experience to give me a good foundation, I'm personable. So, WTF?

I got a call on Friday morning from the president of a non-profit working on Black women's health issues, which has a lot of programs geared towards Black women's sexual and reproductive health (jackpot!). She had remembered my resume from a position I applied for over the summer and wanted to talk to me about a short-term contracting position with them. Yay!

Well, today was the day. I went into interview with the programs director and walked out the happiest girl alive. Although it's just a short term contracting position, it's a position in the exact field and area, doing substantive work I really want to do. Although the last several months have been frustrating as all get-out, what I felt today while talking with the director was amazing. Having the opportunity to get my hands dirty doing the work that I am passionate about - the work that I would like to make a career out of - may just turn out to have been worth the wait.

Not every story needs a moral. Sometimes a story is just a story. But in this case maybe patience isn't just a virtue, maybe it is what facilitates us doing exactly what we should be doing in this world. Perhaps if we were never patient or if we never took the time to be still and wait, would be miss that which is being prepared for us...

Just thoughts.