poproxy360 asks: I am too impatient. What can I do to be more patient?
Hi poproxy360 –
I am too! I can’t stand to wait for anything! Handsome will get me a treat and make me sit and stay, and I just tremble and drool and even whine because I want it so bad! And it drives me nuts because I know that the only way I can get it is to sit still, which is the last thing in the world I want to do!
But at the same time… I kind of like that I’m this way! I see people (and some dogs) all the time who are so easy-going about things that they look like they don’t care at all about anything. So no one pays them any mind. They don’t seem to have any passion about what they want.
Have you ever heard that old saying “The squeaky wheel gets the grease?” Or “The early bird catches the worm?” These are saying that impatience can be a good thing.
Now, for example, you’ve written me lots of questions. Some people might not like getting asked so much, and complain that you’re impatient. But I think you’re fantastic, and love all the curiosity you’ve shown me! So the first thing I’d urge you to do is to look very closely at why you’re saying you’re “too impatient,” and see if maybe what’s really going on is that you’re, sometimes, too impatient for someone else to handle!
And if I’m right, then what you actually need isn’t to be more patient all the time, but rather, to learn to read other people better, and get a sense of what they can and can’t take.
This is a very normal problem. Everyone needs to learn this skill. I’ve had to learn to wait for guests to say hello to Handsome and have a little chat before I can get them to play tug-of-war with me, even though I want it the second I see them. And I’ve had to learn to wait for Handsome to feed me, even if I’ve been hungry for hours! But the second I know there’s a chance of something happening (like if a person picks up one of my toys, or if Handsome pulls out a leash), all my patience goes right out the doggy door that second!
So please, poproxy360, stay impatient. Keep wanting more in your life than you can get in a day. Want to read more books than you can, want to meet more people than you can, want to travel the world and learn everything and fly to Jupiter! Because it’s that impatience that will get you all the great stuff you achieve in life.
But equally so, get impatient about learning how to read others, and how to find ways where both you and they can get what you want. Be impatient to learn how to help them and be such a great friend that they’re happy to give you what you want, when you want it.
And then you’ll be like me, my friend. Very, very lovable!
Cheers,
Shirelle