By Andrew Arthur Dawson
Quote #1
“Two things define you. Your patience when you have nothing and your attitude when you have everything.” (Unknown)
Quote #2
“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” (Aristotle)
Quote #3
“Patience with others is love. Patience with self is hope. Patience with God is faith.” (Unknown)
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
“Patience is not simply the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.” (Joyce Meyer)
When my partner Chris and I visited downtown Cleveland, Ohio for the first time together to attend a pro-baseball game between the Indians and the Red Sox, I was rather excited. As we began to look for a parking space, a car suddenly pulled out in front of us from the side of a road, a mere block from the stadium. I abruptly shouted, “PARK THERE, PARK THERE!!!” Having seen a sign that said it was safe to park on that road for 2 hours, up until 4pm, and given it was well past 2pm, I couldn’t believe our luck, especially since each of those garages we had passed had $25 to $50 price tags to park there for the sporting event. A few dollars to park and then free parking after 4pm, how sweet a deal was that I thought! Unfortunately, a car was directly behind us now and preventing us from backing into the space, so Chris proceeded to drive away.
While I normally have been more patient than not in situations like this in recent years, I wasn’t in this case. Instead, I became irate and started shouting at Chris, losing any bit of serenity, as well as any joy I had for the baseball game that evening. I proceeded to berate my partner in a slew of negative comments and said I should have been the one to drive. I also told him that if he had just been a little more patient, we would have been in that prime and extremely affordable downtown parking spot, rather than having to now park in one of those expensive garages.
Ironically, I was the one who needed to learn another lesson in patience and had to eat every one of my words though, as when we finally made our way back around the block to where that amazing parking spot had been, I noticed a second sign above the one I already read that said, “NO PARKING BETWEEN 4PM AND 6PM.”
All that shouting, all that negativity, all that impatience on my part, all for what? Clearly, I still have some work to do when it comes to cultivating more patience in life. And just so know, Chris eventually found a garage for us to park our car in, a mere block further away from there, all for the low cost of $10, something that a little more patience would have found with ease.
Dear Lord, please help me hold my tongue and practice better patience the next time I find myself in a situation that challenges my ego in thinking it can do a better job than someone or something else.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
Silly Joke #1
A man walking along a California beach was deep in prayer. All of a sudden, he said out loud, “Lord, grant me one wish.”Suddenly the sky clouded above his head and in a booming voice, the Lord said, “Because you have TRIED to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish.” The man said, “Build a bridge to Hawaii, so I can drive over anytime I want to.” The Lord said, “Your request is very materialistic. Think of the logistics of that kind of undertaking. The supports required to reach the bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it would take! I can do it, but is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of another wish. A wish you think would honor and glorify me.” The man thought about it for a long time. Finally, he said, “Lord, I wish that I could understand women. I want to know how they feel inside, what they are thinking when they give me the silent treatment, why they cry, what they mean when they say ‘nothing,’ and how I can make a woman truly happy.” After a few minutes, God said, “You want two lanes or four on that bridge?”
Silly Joke #2
After waiting more than an hour and a half for her date, the young lady decided she’d been stood up. Exasperated, she changed from her dinner dress into pajamas and slippers, fixed some popcorn and resigned herself to an evening of TV. No sooner had she flopped down in front of the TV than her doorbell rang. There stood her date. Wanting to shift the attention off the fact of how late he was, he suddenly gasped, “I’m two hours late, and you’re still not ready?”
Silly Joke #3
All of Broomtown was a buzz because boy-broom and girl-broom were going to get married. Everyone felt certain that the bride-broom and the groom-broom would make a lovely couple.The night before the wedding, however, bride-broom told groom-broom that she was going to have a little wisk-broom. “But, how can that be?” wailed groom-broom, “We haven’t even swept together yet!”
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson