Practicing Patience

I know I'm short on patience. I want to get on with It, whatever It is. Things that tax my patience most are small frustrations, like opening plastic packages that make one feel incompetent.

You know these - the little flip-lid to allow air into a gas can that doesn't flip, and when not opened, the gas goes "gush - whoop - gush - whoop" instead of flowing freely. Cellophane on a new cd or dvd, with the red 'pull here' ripper darn near concealed. Tearing open a catsup packet. Cereal and cake mix inner plastic: like, once you're in the box, you probably aren't tampering anymore and want access to the food, but it either tears down the middle or you need a cutting implement such as a sharp knife to slash it open - growl. These nuisances irritate me, as I expect they do any rational person.

That list goes on. We can all see I could use a little Patience Improvement Practice (PIP).

Wanting to better myself, I decided I should begin immediately. I need a lot of practice, so I found the ideal, personally-frustrating, small item - miniature Easter chocolate in the ##@! crunched foil. It was in my daughter's drawer, but I knew she'd want me to PIP.

I took out a good-sized handful, in that I do need a lot of practice; took a deep, calming breath, zenned with the Now, and tackled the first one. My usual method is to just tear and scrape the foil off with a small growl, but this time I wiggled the ends, gently sought the edge with a fingernail, slowly worked the foil off.

A sense of accomplishment followed, but I knew I could do better!

So I practiced and practiced, until I was finally able to unwrap five in a row without tearing the foil. Quite the crowning moment.

To reward myself for my efforts, I ate them.