During the month of April, I’m writing 30 Words for 30 Days: Thoughts from Six Feet Away, one topic per day. Find out why here.
“PATIENCE”
All we need is just a little patience – Guns N’ Roses, from Patience
Even as I was thinking about this topic and as I’m writing this post I can hear that whistling from the beginning of that GNR song.
But that line from the song is so true, especially right now.
I think I can speak for the whole world when I say “when will this be over?!!”
We’re like a couple of billion kids on Christmas morning, sitting in front of our presents and waiting for dad to get his coffee so that we can get to the things we’ve been looking forward to.
There are certainly things that are much more difficult during this time, form deaths, serious health concerns, job devastation, mental health and other issues.
But being patient for something when we don’t know when it’s going to come is beginning to drive all of us crazy.
Let’s go back to that Christmas morning example.
If you know that dad is just getting his coffee from the kitchen and he’ll be back in in a few minutes, we can probably deal with that.
But if dad drove off in search for a specific cup of coffee from some random coffee shop in another city and he won’t know it until he tastes it… that’s a little hard to handle.
So we wait.
A Little Help
When there isn’t a known date for when the virus will have run its course or when schools will start back up or restaurants will reopen… or, or, or… it can help for us to at least focus on some things that we can control.
Maybe set up some things on your calendar that you can look forward to, that you can almost guarantee will happen.
Family game night. Zoom with a good friend. Watching a movie. Ordering out from a local restaurant.
Or you can keep your mind off of the things you can’t control by looking for ways to make an impact or grow. Serve others, sew masks, reach out, smile, learn, read.
Truth be told, even the open or end dates that we think might be coming just can’t be counted on. Everything changes just about every day.
But we can help each other through this.
If you’re struggling to be patient, reach out to a friend. We’re all feeling it.
You’re not alone.
All we need is just a little patience.