Some people seem to be naturally patient. I’m not one of those people. I think I was born impatient. But I have spent a lot of time cultivating having patience.
How I cultivate patience and try to understand what triggers me when I get impatient:
Like this morning. I was getting ready for my morning walk out in nature – which I love – and I was putting the leashes on my dogs. They also love their morning walk, sniffing everything while I do my Inner Bonding process. After getting the leash on Dobby, I called Pippin over to get his leash on. Instead of coming, he did what he often does – he rolled over. I felt that familiar flash of impatience over his not listening to me, and I immediately recognized that my irritation was a cover up for my feeling of helplessness over Pippin. He is our rescue dog and somehow he learned, in his early very unhappy life, to roll over and give a pleading look rather than listen. As soon as I found my compassion for him, my impatience and irritation vanished. Poor little guy. I wonder what happened to him that led to him learning to do that?
