The more I think about it, the more I realize how essential patience is to our lives. People need to have patience with themselves, tough situations, and other living beings. With patience comes hope, courage, peace, and the strength to go on. When you becomes frustrated with oneself, or a life situation, it is important to remember that you are only human. The next step is to allow yourself time. Giving yourself space and not pushing yourself is a form of patience and love for yourself. Which is good.  And if that patience holds out, you will find that the end results are much better than if you gave yourself a hard time and rushed. These situations can be anything from acing a math test (Don't cram on the last night!) to getting over a break up to trying out a new exercise plan and diet. Just keep plugging on and give yourself time. . . . You've got the rest of your life to live the rest of your life.

As for patience with other people, they deserve and need the same kind of love you've been giving yourself. Say you're trying to find out someone's feelings, and they keep giving you that oh-so-aggravating answer "I don't know."  Don't pick and pry at them. . . . It could be that they truly don't know their own feelings. Maybe they haven't figured them out yet. Maybe they aren't ready to figure them out. Different scenario. . . . What if you have a crush on a person, and you know they isn't crushing back. FYI: Don't decide to attract his/her attention by buying a hot new outfit. That might send the wrong message. Instead, take the time to get to know your crush. (Remember, truly getting to know someone takes years, so again . . . give it time.) You could save yourself a lot of agony, and you'll get to know your cutie, and they'll get to know you. Plus, bonus. If you go slowly, your relationship will be a lot stronger than if you had just jumped right into dating. Could mean a much longer time being in the couple status! Of course, you need to be patient with people other than your crush. Building relationships with anyone is a wonderful, rewarding process, whether it be your mother, your brother, or a bud you met just yesterday.

jinxx