Patience ~ Tuesday's with Maggie

Patience.
Patience is not a virtue that I was born with. This is evident in the fact that, as a child, my parents wouldn’t tell me and my brother when we were going to Disneyland until we were actually pulling into the parking lot. Or, when they would tell me to go back to bed when I would wake them up at 3 a.m. on Christmas morning to open presents. My lack of patience was put to the test recently at the farm.
It was at the end of a rather busy and labor intensive weekend. I was pooped. And it seemed to me that all the animals decided to be pains-in-the-you-know-whats all at the same time. Ferdi was throwing his head at me, the horses weren’t listening to instructions, dogs were barking, geese were honking…..ARG! My first instinct was to flick Ferdi on the nose and then to chase the horses away so I could get my work done in peace. But just as soon as that thought entered my head, it was gone. Patience. I must have patience. Just because I am having a grouchy day doesn’t mean that everyone else is. Most especially, the animals. They don’t understand where I am at. They only know that dinner time is close at hand and they are anxious to get to it.
Being around the animals has taught me more about patience than I realized. Even when a horse bucks me off (3 times so far) I can’t be mad. I must have patience.
I am constantly reminding myself to be this way with humans as well. Although, this can be a rather daunting task. I need to remind myself that not everyone is having a good day, a good week, or even year (insert the “Friends” theme here) and that I need to be patient with people. I am trying. I am learning so many lessons from being around these animals. Patience is opening up your mind and taking in all of life’s lessons whether they be big or small.
Now, if I can only learn to be patient with my weight loss. Do you think I can lose 40 lbs by February?! Patience, Margaret…..patience.