Anything Worthwhile Requires Patience

While I have little patience to none in certain areas of my life. I am embarrassed to confess that I am one of “those” people who mutter under their breaths when standing in a long line. Although my less than gracious behavior in my daily life would signal having no patience in all things that take time. Strangely, as if I have a split personality, I have buckets of patience doing things that would make a normal person want to tear their hair out.

I suppose I could start with my chosen profession as a writing, and not just a writer, but a writer of novels. The time for me to write a first draft usually takes up to a year, a year and a half, two if the work is going at a pace on par with a snail moving on a rock. While I can get hopping mad standing in a line, I can sit for long stretches of time without anger. There are days when I’m frustrated, but it’s not intense enough to make me want to quit. Once I get going on a book and the characters come to life, my curiosity to see how their stories will end keeps me going. As tedious as it is, I am always glad I had the patience to see it to the end.

What I’ve learned is that my brain is wired in a fashion where I have the patience to do things like needlepointing and jigsaw puzzles for hours on end. Given my enjoyment of hobbies where sitting is required, I probably should have lived in the English country side like a character in a Jane Austen novel. So, while I could use a great deal of work to become more patient in my everyday life, I’ve found anything worthwhile requires time and patience.