Sunday Reflections: Patience
Every Sunday I plan to post a recap of my week. What I did to pursue my goal. Whether I followed it, attempted it, and maybe, I even flopped at it. Your comments are always welcome and if you’d like to share something you did this week with me, I’d love to hear it.
Monday Makeover Goal: Patience
I tried hard to focus on Patience this week. Patience with my kids. Patience with my dog. Patience in the work world, and patience with myself.
The Good
I took quite a few breathing breaks.
My kids like to wrestle. They like to wrestle with my big dog. And I’m a momma who likes to coach others into their own self-realization, so after several warnings that someone might get hurt, sure enough, they did—either by the dog stepping on their feet, or scratching them or grabbing on to each other too tight. I closed my eyes. I held them and comforted them and we talked through what happened. We assured each other no one intentionally hurt one another, and I feel pretty good about that.
The Great
I controlled my voice in a few moments where I might have normally fired off a little loud. ;0) I’m human. I yell. I don’t like it when I do. But there were a few times I caught myself. I apologized. I teach my kids we always apologize and why. I often say, “Mommy isn’t perfect. I mess up I shouldn’t have been so upset and I’m sorry. I love you. I always love you, no matter what.” We talk about emotions. We talk about the what and the why. I tend to be a little over explainer, and I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. My son makes me smile. He pipes up right back, “It’s ok mommy. It was an accident. I love you!”
And The Incredible Wow!
I have two examples to share:
“No, why?” I asked.
“Because you slammed the phone down. I figured you were mad.” They went on with how rude it was. I felt the heat begin to rise. I used to teach Customer Service classes, and I’d never ever, try to be rude with anyone looking for answers. They went on with their personal story. How if they were on the other line, they’d be really upset with me.
I took a breath. The heat kept rising, and I will never forget the words, “but I’m not criticizing.”
I responded in this way: “I am energy. Everything I do is full of energy. I didn’t mean to hang up the phone so loud. I don’t own a home phone, and I forget if the other person even hears the sound of the phone being hung up. I doubted they did. And there is something else, I had to hang up the phone loud, because the call right before, I did it too soft, and I accidentally left the phone off line for a couple of minutes until I noticed.”
I could be wrong. In the moment, I really wasn’t happy, and I did say thank you a little more sharp than I should have. They stood there and I guessed, maybe they wanted me to apologize personally to them. I don’t know. That’s the story that ran through my head. Stories are never good when we don’t have all the facts. I didn’t continue to pursue them, but in the moment, I feel like I handled myself well.
And my novel? I am beaming with sunshine! I had a really great conversation with my step-dad about a chapter I couldn’t get past. I’d been stuck in it for almost a month and he freed me. We had a great brainstorming session and I flew through two chapters in two days! So in my writing, I am so glad I stuck with it. I stared at that pesky chapter every day. Every morning when I woke up I kept reading and rereading my words, going back a few chapters, getting into the motives of my characters. I didn’t give up, and that thought makes me so incredibly happy with myself.
And what did I learn?
I still have a lot to learn. ;0) And that’s ok, because I know, I am a work in progress.
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Posted on April 14, 2013, in cloud nine girl, erica beebe, Erika Beebe, makeover goal, patience, work in progress. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.
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