Patience

I am sure you all have heard the saying, "good things come to those who wait"?  I tried to Google its origin but just found out that it is simply an English phrase for patience.  This short phrase has probably been used by parents for centuries.  I know I have used it with my kids.  I do think it has a deeper meaning than just a way to get our kids to shut up but does that meaning really matter?

"Patience is a virtue" - just another saying to make us wait for something, whatever it may be.  Why though?  Why is patience a virtue?  Isn't it just a copout for things we cannot get?  Or does it really matter to wait, wait, and wait some more for what we want.  I am being to think that this phrase is a myth and you have to forget patience and drive hard for what you want right now or it will never happen.

I had very little patience growing up but now as a father I understand that this is a trait for most children.  Here two examples where I lacked patience growing up:

1) Every year I knew exactly what "Santa" was bringing me weeks before Christmas.  How?  My impatience had me searching the house for my presents until I located them under my parents bed.  Once I knew the hiding place, I would sneak into their room as often as I could to see if any new presents had arrived and dream about the ones I already knew I would be getting.  I guess I did have some patience because I always waited until Christmas morning before I opened my presents.  Christmas Chaos with my family:

Christmas Chaos from Snakes on Vimeo.

2) I hated waiting for church to be over.  I would wiggle and wiggle which prompted a predictable response from my mother each week - "Cameron, stop wiggling" would be forced through her teeth as quietly as possible.  I remember being even more annoyed when the pastor's sermon went long or something special was added to the program.  I was just about as impatient as could possibly be at that moment.  Maybe I was just bored?

North Decatur Presbyterian Church - my childhood church 

I think I am fed up, sick, and tired of waiting for things in my life.  I understand that many things take time, training, planning, and (oh crap) patience in order to be successful.  That said, if I wait too long, I may completely miss my opportunity.  This is true at work, at home, in friendships, and in love.  How do we know when we have been patient enough and need to act in order to make something happen - good or bad?

The Center for Snake Conservation is a great example of how I have been extremely patient.  I was very impatient at first because I thought the CSC would explode as a conservation group because there is a REAL need for snake conservation.  Well, it did explode in popularity but that is it.  I was blinded by my passion for snakes and thought everyone would jump on board, become members, and make the CSC the next powerhouse in conservation.  The CSC has a very successful Facebook campaign but that is about it.  We are starting to really develop a presence along the Front Range of Colorado with our education programs.  In addition, the majority of the academic and field herpetologist world knows who we are and this reputation is stretching across the world.  The trouble is that reputation and popularity do not run a business.  I have had to learn patience because I don't know how to run a business either and need help.  It is time to make a move so I am actively seeking this help now because I am tired of waiting.  My patience has run out.

There are other things in my life that I have been waiting for but I am not sure if patience is the right course of action.  Yes - many of these things require baby steps and serious planning.  However, as a chronic procrastinator until things hit crisis mode (please read my blog Self for details), being patient means that nothing will ever happen.  It seems that I am very good at procrastinating my life without ever taken action for what I want.  I am hopeful Running With Snakes becomes a new source of inspiration, an electronic cattle prod, and forces me to act.  Only then I will be able to develop a healthy patience.  Only time will tell. 

The Dominator

Although the guitarist for Metallica wrote this song for his girlfriend and it was never intended to be released, I think it really lends its self to learning patience.  We are on the road, far away from our dreams, but we must be open to living life our way.  Patience may be required but ultimately "Nothing Else Matters".  In other words - be patient if you have to but always go after you want and make your life happen.