I'm generally a very patient person. I don't feel as if I came by this patience naturally, but have cultivated it throughout my life. I'm a natural teacher, so patience is a big part of that.
In almost all scenarios I have almost limitless patience. And then there are the occassional times when I have almost no patience. And I don't like that feeling of frustration in me as I deal with the situation less than effectively.
Now I'm trying to be more aware of the situations that trigger impatience and what is it that is causing me to lose my cool (even if only internally). It often comes down to situations where I have certain expectations but almost no control. My gut instinct is that I need more control in those areas, but the reality is that I need to manage my expectations.
Optimism is good. But sometimes things don't go the way I expect. And that's okay. It's all about rolling with the new situation. I know I have this skill, because I use it in my teaching all the time. Now I'm working on tapping into it in the other areas of my life that need a little work.
