Patience
Spring is in the air and the snow is melting. I’ve been waiting for the snow to melt to see if something had been covered in since the fall. It wasn’t a buried treasure or my wedding ring. It wasn’t worth much money and no one terribly cared about it but me. I could have replaced it easily, quickly and inexpensively. But I didn’t. I thought about it. I even weighed the options. In fact, I’m sure I spent exponentially more time thinking about it than any value of the item or even my enjoyment from the item.
Curiosity versus Patience. What wins with you?
They go head to head: curiosity and patience. If you’re truly, painfully, achingly curious, the patience is harder and harder to live up to. If you’re not curious, the patience is, of course, easier. You can be patient because you don’t care or are not as interested in the outcome.
But my curiosity was fighting a two-sided battle. I was curious to see if it was under the snow: immediately dig it out–if I could. But I was also curious to see if I could wait it out and let the snow melt. One involved immediate gratification, the other (extreme) delayed gratification. I’m just not an immediate gratification kind of guy.
I like to work for my rewards and I like to bask in the long-awaited glory of victory.
In the long run, the “battle” is usually only with yourself. I didn’t win any awards with my family (or anyone) that I waited it out. The battle was an internal one. I wanted to see if I could challenge myself to be patient, to wait it out, watch the snow melt. I wanted to see if I could do it, to challenge myself. To see what “pain level” I could live with. I wanted to see what kind of person I am.
Patience: bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like; quiet, steady perseverance.
Perseverance: steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
P.S. The item was a simple outdoor thermometer that hung on the wall outdoors. It was outside for 5 months buried in 6 feet of snow.
Do you have the patience to wait for the snow to melt?
