An Experience With Patience....

Patience (n) : the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

Oh boy. Don't we all need a little more of this...patience.

A few weeks ago, I was rushing to pick up a friend for a much needed mommy date long over due to celebrate mutual birthdays that had long since passed. In my rush, I pulled out of the garage and hit my passenger side rear bumper into my mother-in-law’s car. This was her reward for helping me watch the kids of course... because no good deed goes unpunished. I jest here.

She had not pulled all the way forward since her car had been leaking oil and I wasn’t looking carefully because I assumed I had plenty of space.
 
I got out to evaluate the damage on both cars so I could let my MIL know and see what needed to be done. Fortunately her car was hardly scratched, but my bumper was a different story. I pushed one end of the panel back in, but there was a large dent that would need to be repaired.I consciously looked and said to myself, “This is a total bummer and an inconvenience, but not an urgent matter since it doesn’t affect my ability to drive the kids safely.” I basically went on my way to have a lovely evening with my friend.
 
I remembered the dent multiple times over the week but never followed through since I had more compelling things to work on, I didn’t need to rush. There was only a minor scratch and really I didn’t see the dent often so it didn’t bother me. If I am perfectly honest, I may have forgotten as life was challenging me in different ways.
 
This past Thanksgiving holiday as we were getting our house set up for the Christmas holiday, I was loading and unloading the back of my car from our storage. What I saw was nothing short of a “miracle.”
 
The dent was….GONE.  Literally, gone.
 
I tried to see if my husband may have borrowed my car to have it repaired and was just waiting for me to notice, but NOPE.
 
I brought the whole family out to see. Everyone asked me if I had fixed myself…NOPE. All of us were stunned.
 
If you ask me, I bet it was just the shift of temperatures between hot and cold and the sun that it popped back into place. Literally, it corrected itself. Or more simply, a miracle occured :) 

 
I will admit I was specifically choosing not to focus on that particular problem, but in the end I mostly forgot about it. It restored my faith that an accident or a problem or difficulty may actually just need some time to self-correct. It is also a critical component to know what is worth your time and worry. ​

I like to think that I have learned over the years what is in fact important, but really I needed the reminder that as things become more difficult before they become easy again just in time to come together.

Remove. Replace. Restore.

Remove reacting impulsively.

Replace with patience to the things that truly are important.

Restore the ability for things to self-correct.

Soar On

Eat Well. Move Well. Sleep Well. Connect Well.