“Don’t you know how to play Patience?”
Apparently, I did. Just by another name: Solitaire. The card game my mom taught me so I could play by myself. (Just because you have brothers doesn’t mean you have participants.)
Solitaire. The game I didn’t like much because I rarely won. And, until the computer version came along and automated the process, the game that was 75% set-up and only 25% play. Which is why, the other name, Patience, probably makes sense. It required much patience to lay out all the damn cards. 
Solitaire. I never really needed the cards to keep my alone self entertained. I read books, sketched, read books, played with toys, read books…
Better patience, though, might have served me well over the years. In particular, patience with myself. Patience–instead of frustration or anger. I like the idea of having enough tolerance to not only accept delays, but understand their cause.
When I’m patient I expected a delayed outcome. When I’m impatient I expected immediate results. Results attained through competence and focus and commitment and efficiency and perseverance.
Competence. Focus. Commitment. Efficiency. Perseverance. A good combination for achieving success. Why not expect this of myself, and, frankly, of others?
Yes, we should expect the best of ourselves. The goal is to hold off with the frustration. Give ourselves a break until we figure out why we didn’t get what we expected. Were we competent and efficient in our efforts? Were we focused? Did we quit too soon (or before we even got started)?
I’m not suggesting we analyze ourselves right into excusing the failure. Rather, just that we get some perspective on why we didn’t get the results we were expecting. Why we didn’t–and how we might do better next time. Guess I’ll shuffle the deck and give the game another try.
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