Patience, Donkey!

Southern Holly's 100th article! Patience is a virtue. How do we pivot from the impatience that frustrates and confounds us?

“Patience, donkey!”

If I had a dollar for every time my Mom said that phrase to me, I’d be a rich woman living in a beachfront home by now. Alas, the phrase never came with monetary rewards, so my beachfront home exists only in my hopes and dreams—collecting dust with the plans for an ornate multi-level library complete with a sliding ladder, roaring fireplace, and cozy chaise lounges (with the option for a thunderstorm in the background).

But I digress.

Patience.

It has never been one of the virtues I possess, of that I (and my aforementioned mother) can assure you. Now, I can have patience with individuals no problem. But situational patience—that is a struggle. My drive to get things done, crossed off the list, and have results in hand often overrules my ability to calmly and amiably wait things out.

I imagine I am not the only one suffering from this malady.

Patience is HARD. Especially when you are frazzled, have a million and one things going on, or desperately need information to guide your next steps. The not-knowing can eat you up. The open-ended timelines can frustrate you to no end.

And it is in those very moments that we need to have the fortitude to pivot. How do we do that? A number of ways.

Take a step away to just breathe. Seriously. Deep breaths and thirty seconds to yourself can allow you the breadth to deal with whatever minor issues come your way. Say whatever phrases you need to release the pent-up frustration. Think iterations of “Jesus take the wheel” or even “Have they lost their ever-loving mind?” If the earth needs to vent to release built up pressure to keep things moving—don’t feel bad that you do too.

Those larger issues—um, yeah, breathing is definitely not going to be sufficient. A large enough brown paper bag does not exist to cover the air supply needed for these circumstances. And you might get a few side eyes if you are breathing into a yard-sized brown bag. This calls for a distraction of the highest sort.

Either a distraction or diversion will work. It could be a girls’ night out, picking up a new hobby, or carrying the flag of another issue. Try limiting your screen time, meditation, or including nature trails as part of your routine. Distractions are not always a bad thing and are definitely not four-letter words. When they evolve to being part of you, who you are, and what you enjoy…the time flies by.

That thing that had you all tied up in knots before resolves itself without you watching the clock as you nibble your nails to the quick. It will come to its natural conclusion, eventually. We alone have the power to either let impatience consume us or to pivot.

Always take the pivot.

It was only happenstance that I realized that this article you are reading right now is my 100th post. Talk about a pivot! How did over a year go by and 99 articles? There are times when words fail me, and when they do, I get so utterly impatient with myself. Sometimes I take the deep breaths and other times I go walking, or go for a scenic drive, or even take a raincheck. For sure, I have my favorites and am more proud of some articles. But others also take on a life of their own and wind up speaking a message to someone who needs to hear it. I try to give myself grace.

In the end we are all just doing the best we can with what we have.

And yes, sometimes we need to be told “Patience, donkey!”