During this time of the COVID-19 crisis, we hear a lot of noise from people throuhout the United States anxiously seeking to get away from the pressure of the Safer-at-Home executive order and guidelines. It seems the longer we are forced to wait, the stronger the desire to gather with other people or services we miss grows. The emotions are dominating common sense and the welfare of the nation is at stake. Why is that? Why is it that we as a people can’t seem to practice patience? To answer this question lets look at the benefits and consequences of being impatient.
The Journey
One of the benefits of being impatient is it blesses those who are observing and listening to the decisions other people have made. We didn’t participate with them, we just watched, as if it were a scene from a movie. We see victims and victors. The victims are the ones who lost. That lost can range from their health, self-respect, status, a relationship with someone or their Creator. The victors are the ones who gained the insight and wisdom, learning what not to do. We learn that waiting is better than rushing and the importance of practicing patience is valued. Most of us would call this type of thinking, “taught sense versus bought sense”. The bought sense becomes a personal lesson that brings new meaning to the very soul of that person’s pain. The deeper the hurt, the more one will remember. Ultimately, patience is a journey that always leads to wisdom.
That being said, let’s look at the cause of the decision to be impatient. One of the causes is a person is emotionally charged and can’t see how their emotions or built up frustrations has the type of power and control to override their common-sense thinking. Another cause is mental stress, worried about how I’m going to make it. Stress has never been a good thing for anybody. The side effects of stress is, it breaks down our immune system and other vital organs, because the immune system needs to rest in order to recharge. The voice of reason says get advice, make an educated decision based upon facts, not emotions. The impulsive voice says the opposite. Unfortunately, in some cases, when we make a bad decision, the consequences can be so devastating, it takes a journey to repair the damage done. Gradually we learn that rebounding from the words we spoke, the actions we took or the reaction I initiated becomes my personal injury or personal setback. If you know anything about a sports injury or a financial injury of some sort, the one thing that is required when trying to rebound is it takes time to heal. Personal injuries take us back to practicing patience all over again. It’s just one of those laws of nature we have to live within whether we like it or not.
To translate, this is what we are experiencing in real time with the COVID-19 crisis. “We are in this as a team together”, is what we hear on the radio, TV commercials and read on the digital billboards, the internet and in the news. Athletes understand the journey as a team. Highly emotional people don’t always get it. With the COVID-19 crisis, the consequences of being impatient does not only affect the individual but also our community, city, county and state. However, if we see ourselves as a member of the whole team or community, then we’ll obey the laws of nature and come out of this pandemic together maturing towards wisdom. If not, then we have to go back into the same wait room, again.
The Wait Room
Figuratively speaking, the wait room is where a person is forced to sit down and go through the rehab by themselves or together with the assistance of some experts. It does not matter if the rehab is a physical rehab, drug related rehab, financial rehab, emotional-mental rehab or reconnecting with the Creator through the reading of the scriptures. In all scenarios, it will require time and commitment to in order to rebound and heal in the process. It’s very similar to being in the traditional weight room lifting weights. The 100 pounds of weight does not change, but I do. I change as result of reflecting on my decision-making. I change as a result of looking at how I got myself or us into this situation. I change because I reached out to someone or a group and asked for help. I recognize I need to take responsibility for my stuff. I need to make things right with the people I have hurt or the injury I have within me. I need to apologize from the heart, not from the head, and make a commitment to do things the right way when moving forward with my thinking. It will take time for others to believe in me, or me to believe in my body to be strong enough to play ball again, which means I have to stay in the wait room.
The hope is that we become more connected with being patient and recognize that patience definitely leads to wisdom and wisdom leads to class and dignity, not greed, foolishness and profanity. In the end, we become an asset to ourselves, our family, teammates, and community. In short, practice is where it all begins. Tell us what you think.