Hurry!! I can’t wait for you to read this !!

I have noticed a serious increase in impatience in the world around me.

And I am losing my ability to tolerate it!! < /sarcasm >

I acknowledge that, as human beings, we tend to be a bit ‘self focused’ and are often unwilling to “wait our turn”. But what disturbs me is the almost idiotic behavior reflected in the name of a lack of patience.

After spending 30 minutes or more browsing the store you can’t wait a minute (or two) at the checkout counter?

For example, when waiting in a line at the supermarket. If you were to actually time it, the average wait — when there are 2 or 3 people ahead of you, for example — is under 5 minutes. Yet, many people will search frantically for A SHORTER LINE or shift impatiently while waiting. What strikes me here is that they just spent 30 or 40 minutes (maybe more) browsing the store. Yet a wait of not even 5 minutes is intolerable?

Conversely, — still at the supermarket — you will see someone in their automobile waiting that same amount of time (up to about 5 minutes) for a “prime” parking space to be opened so they can take it.

In that time spent sitting in the car (consuming fuel, the price of which they constantly complain is too high) I will stroll past and already be in the store once they have parked.

If you are TRULY trying to be most efficient with your time, you would simply park and walk

The most efficient use of your time is to park as soon as feasible and start walking to the store. It takes less than a minute — my unscientific tests have shown it to be actually just about 30 seconds — to walk from the farthest edges of the parking lot to the front door.

I think there is a lot more to be gained, than readily apparent, from exercising a bit more patience. It has a calming effect. And, as has been said many times, it is virtuous!

The only thing of which I am more proud than my patience is my humility!

Although it requires continual practice, I have been striving to exercise patience at every opportunity. It has a surprisingly CALMING effect.

I recommend you too, at the very least, give it a try.

The next time you find yourself in a situation where you must wait;

• Stop
• Take a look at the world around you
• Interact with the people around you (not if you are stopped in traffic, though)
• Visually explore your surroundings from a different perspective and with a bit of imagination

Afterall, THAT is what life is all about.