How to Practice Patience

“To lose patience is to lose the battle.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Learning to control the controllable i.e., your actions and your attitude can sometimes be a harder than it sounds. It can require a lesson in how to practice patience. This morning was one of those of times.

We’re always looking for new and different fruits and veggies to try, and to save a buck or two. So, Lynn and I went to check out a new produce store. To be honest we should have left as soon as we walked in but trying to make the best of it, we decided to shop around.

The store itself was clean enough. But wasn’t attractive at all. The look of the fruit and veggies was passing fair. I did to have search pretty hard to find a couple of apples that weren’t bruised. We also picked up a few potatoes, some limes and some cilantro. Ah, yes, the cilantro. That’s where the practice in patience really begins.

Hoping for a Better Outcome

When we got home, I trimmed off the ends of the cilantro and placed it in some water, in an attempt to keep it fresh until the next day when we were cooking out. One of my favorite summer dishes is corn on the cob, roasted on the grill, slathered in butter, spritzed with fresh lime juice, sprinkled with tajin and cilantro.

It wasn’t until that evening when I was doing the final clean up that I noticed the cilantro was already looking sad. So, I picked it up to add more water and a swarm and I do mean swarm of ants, little, tiny ants were all over the cilantro and now all over my kitchen. Into the trash it went. I can’t say for sure if they were on the cilantro when we bought it, or if some how they were drawn to it. I certainly hope it wasn’t when bought it…ewwww!

I cannot stand any kind of bugs in my house. The cleaning began. The only thing I keep around for bugs because of my dog, is food grade diatomaceous earth, which is safe around pets. Out comes, as I called it, the “dirt” and I begin feverishly sprinkling it everywhere I see the ants. Now, it’s close to midnight, so I decide to let the “dirt” do its job and I head to bed, hoping for a better outcome in the morning.

The next morning is here and it’s coffee time. As much as I hate to admit it, I can’t even think straight until I’ve has a fresh cup of the elixir of life. Ready to start the day off on a much better note than the previous night, I open the dishwasher to retrieve my carafe and filter, and inside the door of my dishwasher is another swarm of teeny tiny evil creatures feasting on a minuscule crumb that must have been knocked off the counter onto the top of the dishwasher door.

Stuff of Nightmares

For me, this is the stuff of nightmares. All of a sudden, I find myself using the “f word” as a noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, and every other word coming out of my mouth. Now, I begin to wonder are they inside the door of the dishwasher? The only thing I can think to do, after I get rid of as many as I can catch, is to rerun the dishwasher on its highest, hottest setting, to at least get my dishes clean again.

And then, on the phone to pest control. Now, this was a lesson in how to practice patience. I failed. This where controlling my attitude is sometimes harder than it should be. I was not very professional when setting up the appointment and found out the exterminator can’t be here until Thursday and it’s only Tuesday. The July 4^th holiday has put them behind schedule. Now, I have to find a way to tap into my patience and control my attitude because 48 hours of having bugs crawling around my kitchen is not going over well.

Practice Patience

I’ll continue to take all the actions I can to control the problem until then, but it’s just not realistic to stand in the kitchen all day and wait for the ants to appear, which they seemingly do out of thin air. It’s up to us to control our actions and our attitudes. But the hardest lesson is, no matter how much you’d like to, you can’t control the actions of others.

I’ll also do my best to control my attitude. However, waiting until Thursday for pest control to arrive is going to be hard on the whole house. Poor Lynn puts up with so much. This is one of those times when it takes patience and understanding that we can only do the best we can. It’s okay if we find our patience running out every once in a while. We simply need to be gentle with ourselves and practice some internal forgiveness. As, they say this too shall pass.