patience, mama, patience

You hear tales from other mothers or even your own mother about how having a child will make you a more patient person. Well… mine hasn’t completely kicked in.

What if the patience required is with doctors regarding your child?  What then? I have little patience. The closest thing I came to patience when I was younger was liking the Guns n Roses song.  I’m not sure who I learned this from growing up…. but in our relationship I’m constantly being told by Bo to “c’mon, Elo… please be patient.”  How does one learn it?  I’m all ears.

I bring this up as I transition into this new role of Landon’s advocate.  Of course all mother’s are their child’s advocates, but when you child is sick or has any difficulties resulting in doctor’s or specialist’s offices…it takes on a grander meaning. You have to follow up, check and re-check with schedulers, email and call everyone back and then harass them for results.  The harassing is what today is all about. 

I’ve been following the Dalai Lama on Facebook (yes I realize how strange that phrase is) and his wisdom provides great clarity on a regular basis. Here are his thoughts on patience:

“The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind. It enables us to remain undisturbed, even when the situation is really difficult. It gives us a certain amount of inner peace, which allows us some self-control, so that we can choose to respond to situations in an appropriate and compassionate manner, rather than being driven by our disturbing emotions.”

Maybe I should write his mantras on my mirror in lipstick like those women on self-discovery journeys in movies. For me – patience seems to be about remembering to breathe. Breathing deeply allows me to center myself and therefore leave calm voicemails and craft  pointed yet nice emails. Another key is faith. Faith in the people that are helping us, faith in myself that I’m strong enough to wait for an answer, and faith in God that he’s watching over us.

So my friends….today’s lesson is patience.  All we need is just a little patience (had to get my GnR lyric in there somewhere) and we’ll get further in our days and in our lives.