Mind Sprocket: The Back Page : How to Be Patient

Yesterday I panicked after I paid three large bills. I thought “I need to make money, right now, today.” I thought of calling some of my old places of part time employment to see if I could fill in for anyone for the rest of this week. I thought of writing a few chapters on StoryMash to make myself feel better. Then I realized that I didn’t really know anything about StoryMash and how it works; only that if you write a chapter that you can earn some of the advertising money. So I sat for a while and spent some time on the site. I thought of looking for freelance writing gigs online and started plugging in search terms to find someone who needed editing done for their final paper, like now.

All of this time, I wasn’t really getting any closer to making any money, at least today. I couldn’t sit on StoryMash for the rest of the day and write a chapter or search every Craigslist writing gigs section in the world, because there were other things I had to do.

So what I really needed to do was be patient. Here’s what might have helped me:

1. Think of what makes sense to do now. Have you done all you can? Is the situation actually out of your hands? If so, let it go.

2. Stay occupied. So I don’t have a full time job right now. So I have tons of time to do things that I put off, like learning how to make healthier food for myself, practicing new pieces on the piano, cleaning out a closet, etc.

3. Go outside. Going out in the fresh air to just sit and write or read makes almost anything in the world seem possible. Taking a walk is better yet.

4. Realize that impatience wastes time. If you are too occupied thinking about what it is that you are impatient about, you are missing out on other things like a good time with friends, a good time with a book, or a good night’s sleep.

5. Stay reasonable. Being impatient is like being a dog who is chasing its tail. Do you want to be like a dog? I didn’t think so. Being reasonable means that you’ve done what you can do with the situation and have moved on for that walk in the fresh air.

A few hours later, I finally realized that I was not destitute, that I was not going to starve, and that the sun was shining. Whew. I would make it through the day after all.