Lately, I’ve been repeating quotes about patience every day to keep me sane. For the past few weeks, I’ve been going in and out of the doctor’s office trying to figure out what’s going on with me. I’ve had to practice patience as I wait for appointments to check things out and then wait to find out what the results are for those appointments. I’ve also had to practice patience with insensitive medical staff. Contemplating all of this, I can firmly say that patience is not my strong suit and, despite that, I’ve been having to practice an abundance of patience in the past three weeks. I’ve found the following quotes about patience have helped me in this frustrating journey of getting a diagnosis. I hope they help you in whatever situation you are requiring patience for.
1. Trust The Inner Presence
The key to patience is trusting the inner presence that knows exactly what you need. Be patient and trust you will get exactly what you want. – Iyanla Vanzant
Maybe I need to practice patience at this time. Maybe patience is exactly what I need to help me overcome whatever is happening to me! I need to trust that what is happening is what I need and that in the end, I will get exactly what I want out of this deal, which will be better health and maybe even a good doctor that I can turn to in future situations.
So many times I’ve had one path closed off and it was only in hindsight that I realized I needed it closed off so that I could get on a better path.
I’m trying to pretend that I’m looking back at this moment and seeing the many ways that the experience has helped me get on a path that I needed to get on. I may not know what it is yet, but I’m imagining that it’s something good.
2. Patience Needs To Be Practiced
Patience is something you exercise, not something you have. – Marco Poehner
Marco said this in response to the above quote about patience from Iyanla Vanzant, and I really resonated with it. He said that he was a 1st-grade teacher for 15 years, and people often said that he must have a lot of patience to do that job. His response was that patience is something you exercise, not something you have.
One of my biggest goals in the character category of Lifebook is to improve my sense of patience. I realize that this time is good for me to improve it because patience is not something I inherently have, and I don’t need it when times are good.
I need to work on patience constantly and practice it and learn to exercise it in stressful times, which is what I’m going through right now.
In short, it’s good for me to be practicing patience and I’m grateful for the opportunity.
Reading that last sentence over, I’m including it as one of my quotes about patience that I say each day.
3. Couple Patience With Determination
Patience and determination will get you there. – Steve Clamp
The more I reflect on patience, the more I know that these two virtues go together really well.
While I’m being patient for appointments and results, knowing that nothing I do or say can make it go any faster, I’m also determined to get to the bottom of my health issue. That determination means that I’m not letting the doctors slack off or get away with not helping or answering me, which I have done in the past.
I read a story not long ago where a man was having some issues and went for some tests to see if something was wrong. He never heard back from his doctor, so he thought everything was fine. A few months later, his issues got worse and he died. It turns out he had cancer and his doctor had somehow not gotten back to him with the test results. His father was left to wonder whether or not getting the results sooner would have resulted in his son living a long life. He will never know.
While I will have the patience for issues such as my doctor suddenly going on vacation without mentioning anything, I’m not just going to let something go. I’m determined to get to the bottom of things and come out with an answer that allows me to move forward in a productive and timely way.
In any situation, I will do what I need to do or can do, and I will practice patience with things that I cannot control.
4. We Are Not Running Out Of Time
We’re not running out of time. We’re running too fast for time to keep up with us. – Qaas Shoukat
I don’t know what this patience quote will mean to you, but this is one of those quotes about patience that has helped bring me back into the present moment time and time again.
We are not running out of time, we are just running too fast for time to keep up.
I always want it now. Right now!
For instance, I want my test result as soon as the test is over. But, it doesn’t work like that. A radiologist needs to read the ultrasound I had and the doctor needs to compare it to the symptoms I’ve been having.
The time for them to do what they need to do is there, but I want time to be instant, and that’s just not the way time works.
I can say that I honestly have felt like I’m running out of time a lot of the time, but that’s not the truth. When I am present, and not worried about the future, I can see that there is a lot of time to enjoy, cherish, and get things done.
