December 8, 2023
What Does Patience is a Virtue Mean? The ability to wait for something without frustration. Furthermore, Webster would have us believe it to be ‘a useful skill and a good aspect of one’s personality.’ While it’s better to be patient than to freak the F- out, there is, as I have come to accept or learn, a skillset amongst some, where lack of patience is a virtue. We’ve all seen it. I don’t think I need to explain.
I thought about writing further on this subject, but it all sounded whiny, which is anything but productive. So I ponder about my own patience and my willingness to wait things out. In many regards, it has served me well throughout my career and personal life, through the ups and downs, highs and lows. In some circumstances, it has probably caused me to move like a ‘lumbering giant in a shameful parade’, that’s a stolen quote from Josh Homme, but somehow it conjures the image I see in my head.
I do believe there is something to be said for building a solid foundation based on patience, tactfulness, and even-temperedness. I mean, I have to believe that, it is what I have subscribed to for years. So, where does that leave this thought process now? Why did I choose the subject of patience as my latest ramblings? Well, I have been told more than once that I have the ‘patience of a saint’, which, sure, it feels nice to be recognized for such a virtue, but I wonder, what do I do with that? What does anyone else do with that? Could it be a bad thing to be so patient? Are you put on a shelf or left in the waiting room longer than the skillful agitator? I have no clue. Probably…
I guess what I am getting at here is how to be more tactfully aggressive and welcomed when it comes to outreach, when you possess the ‘patience of a saint’ or even just shy. Are you donning an ill-fitting suit for your metaphysically projected presence? How can we transform or transcend? Sure, there are probably 100 courses, self-help, and YouTube videos on the subject…but will that suit ever fit you?
Ok to be fair, this whole subject feels quite sad and pathetic, Am I still whining? Sure feels like it.
I guess what I am getting at is the most challenging thing a freelancer faces is searching for work that is rewarding and finding parking (if you know, you know what I mean). The other day, I was asked what my dream would be; my answer, as clear as a bell on a crisp winter morning. To NOT have to look for work. Slippery slope indeed, but the sentiment is clear: spend more time creating and fielding possibilities than seeking them out. To be fair, one must understand, I could have taken a lot of different paths throughout my career and life, paths that would have led to ‘NOT looking for work,’ but they were NOT fulfilling. I always wanted and felt I deserved more, or at least different. That I have something greater to offer than the easier path laid out before me, that I longed to see more and change my view often.
And so, using the ladder as a metaphor, for every accomplishment on that ladder I achieved, I soon sought the next higher rung, always striving for more. What I felt in my heart and head was patience and a solid foundation. So, as with the ladder, the higher I go, the stronger the gravity, the greater the challenge, the more precarious the situation. But truthfully, in my soul, there is no option, and with that, Sir Edmond Hillary comes to mind regarding climbing Everest. Why did you climb it? He was asked…‘Because it’s there!’ News flash: that was George Mallory, who said that, he died on Everest in 1924…Some 30 years later, it was Hillary with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay who first summited Everest. He never claimed it was easy, but he is quoted as saying, ‘Good planning is important. I’ve also regarded a sense of humor as one of the most important things on a big expedition.’ And after all, isn’t this just one great expedition? Well, it is for me, and with a sense of humor, I continue to laugh, even at myself.
‘It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves’ – Edmund Hillary