I've been struggling with being patient with my two-year-old daughter. The first challenge was to show patience with someone. I knew right away who I needed to focus on.
I spent a lot of time with my daughter yesterday. I tried to listen to her and think before telling her no. When she wanted to do things that would take extra effort on my part, like wash dishes, get out certain toys that are really messy, or play a game, I tried to ask myself if doing what she asked for would really be that bad. Most of the time, I was surprised to find it didn't change anything, take a lot more time, or hurt me at all. Wow.
I was so focused on being patient with my daughter, I almost missed my impatience with other people. But all that practice with her gave me a sudden realization. I was being impatient with my husband. I realized how often I let little seemingly time-consuming or plan-altering things that others do get me upset. And I do it with more than just my daughter. When I reminded myself to be patient, I found that with no yelling, fighting, or irritation on my part, everything got done, I got where I needed to be on time, and I didn't loose anything I thought I would. In fact, I gained a lot of really good things instead.
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