When dealing with both animals and people, we must exhibit patience to have a good relationship and understanding of what we are trying to communicate.
What is patience?
My favorite definition:
“Patience is the quality of waiting calmly without complaining.”
That’s golden.
What make us impatient?
In an article from Psychology Today, it states this:
“Impatience is triggered when we have a goal and realize it’s going to cost us more than we thought to reach it.”
Now when dealing with homeschooling students, we must have a clear goal. Our goal should not be to get the work done.
Our goal, instead, should be growing our children’s intellect. That comes in many more ways than writing a sentence or reading a book or doing a math problem.
We are helping them learn time management, set their own goals, and develop emotionally.
When you get frustrated with a child, a pet, or even a friend, stop and think about your goal.
Is fussing and complaining going to help the other person? Is rushing a horse past an obstacle in the horse’s best interest? Is dragging a puppy on a leash going to give it any reward for a tiny positive step forward?
Most of our impatience and frustrations come from our own anxiety. We have other things on our minds, other goals to achieve, and are not giving our current situation priority.
A wise friend once gave me this piece of (grammatically incorrect) advice – “Be where you’re at.”
Be fully present in the moment.
When you are beginning to get frustrated and impatient, remember to redirect your focus.
We live in the here and now. Don’t be a microwave person. Savor the current time you are experiencing. Never rush and miss the here and now.
The present is a gift.
Enjoy it.
Give your relationships the gift of your full presence.
“Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.”
Proverbs 25:15 NIV
“A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”
Proverbs 19:11 NIV
Dr Vet Sonya 