Is Patience Really A Virture?

My grandmother lived with us. She was a strong, brilliant, determined woman who had come to America at 13 and immediately went to work to help support her family. She was opinionated and stubborn and, she had earned the right to be so. I know she thought I didn’t pay attention to her counsel, but somehow, all that advice is still rolling around in my head half a century later.

“Books are our friends.” Obviously.

“If you can use it once, you can use it twice.” Sure, I try to do that.

“Patience is a virtue.” Is it???

I never wear colored nail polish because it takes too long to set. Not that I don’t have an extra ten minutes to keep my hands under the dryer. I just don’t want to sit and watch it cure. If I buy a new outfit, I want to wear it that day. I haunt the window, waiting for the mail truck to appear. Patient I am not. Maybe that’s why my grandmother reminded me about it so often.

As a new year begins, most of us have some plans (if not hard and fast resolutions) for self-improvement. This year, patience is not one of my goals. I am perfectly content being quick on the draw. I like my pace. Mum (yes, that’s her picture) would not approve. But, I do.

This year, I will not only try to be a better me. I will also enjoy and cherish those parts of myself that I already like. Celebrate you, that’s my slogan for 2022.