Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 94 – The Patience Principal

[Mahler]

Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 94 – The Patience Principal

Good morning, guys.

It is often said that good things come to those who wait. I am one of the most impatient people I know and waiting is often a real pain. During the Christmas season (and yes, it is the Christmas season; not the Winter Fest, the Holiday Happy Time or the Seasonal Sight and Sound Sensation) often our patience is put to the test. It might be while shopping, in traffic, at the post office, you name it. Whatever it is, we are required to “be patient.” After all, patience is a virtue. But, virtue doesn’t always help when your thoughts turn to homicide as you plot the strangulation of the person in front of you who has no concept of what the term “Express Lane” means. Virtue plays no role when you cheerfully give the one finger salute to the person in the Volvo in front of you who doesn’t seem to realize that the number 45 on the signs along the side of the road mean that they can actually go that speed and perhaps even a little more. Your virtue is sorely tested when you pop in line at the post office for a book of stamps only to end up behind the person that wants to weigh, insure and get return receipts for 23 packages going to 18 foreign nations that you’ve never even heard of. My solutions to these and other situations requiring patience are far too hideous to recount here as they involve much pain and anguish. These are situations where we simply have no control and have to wait it out and hope for the best.

There are other situations, however, that require our patience and where we actually do have some control. These are the times when simply waiting and grumbling won’t work and standing stoically does not get us, eventually, to the front of the line. These are situations where we must use the patience principal. What the hell is the patience principal, you may ask? I think of it as the kind of patience that requires us to take our thumb out of our backsides and do something to make things happen. Standing and waiting gets us nowhere. You assess the situation and you plot a course of action to get to the front of the line, so to speak. Those of you who have children know the patience principal well. All the waiting in the world is not going to get a two year old to learn anything. You have to show, to teach, to explain the ever present “why?” You have to take action.

The same is true for many of the challenges we face in life. Waiting for a favorable outcome is simply not an option. All the patience in the world is not going to help us to be fit. All the patience of the ancient mystics is not going to help us to learn. All the standing and waiting will not foster a friendship. If all we do is wait, we are doomed to be fat, dumb and lonely.

In short, we often have to be patient, but we have to work to make things happen for us. The patience principal requires our input and not merely our consent. You want to lose weight or shape up? It’ll take a while before you see results, but it’s going to require some work on your part. You want to learn a skill? It’s going to take some time and it’s going to take effort. You want to have friends? Friends often require the most patience of all and the most action on our part to help, to guide or to just be there for them. But for anything in life worth achieving, our patience along with our energy and our will, makes a powerful combination and truly good things will come to those who wait.

Have a great week.
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In Fitness & Friendship,
Mahler

[TrainingGirl]

Awesome Mahler. I, too, have no patience for most things. I love this line:

But for anything in life worth achieving, our patience along with our energy and our will, makes a powerful combination and truly good things will come to those who wait.

It really is a combination of hard work and patience.

[Deserve]

Solid as always John....it's never a bad thing to be reminded to play nice with the other children.

[Q.]

For a minute there, I thought you'd been following me around! Maybe all that exercising causes us to have excess energy that needs to be expended...?

THANKS! "Patience" is the one resolution I make every year to improve on and I haven't gotten it down yet.

[quaribc]

Luckily I was with patience. However, whenever it comes to training programs I have none. I want them show results right away. In the end I have learned to be patient with results in the weight room and in life.

Thank you again Mahler. Your wisdom on these boards are priceless. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Marykaa]

Right on Mahler. I have alot of patience.. and you are right.. some times I use it in the wrong way.. I'll think of what you just said to review some things..

and Have an excellent week yourself [img]smile.gif[/img]

[FishrCutB8]

But, virtue doesn’t always help when your thoughts turn to homicide as you plot the strangulation of the person in front of you who has no concept of what the term “Express Lane” means. Virtue plays no role when you cheerfully give the one finger salute to the person in the Volvo in front of you who doesn’t seem to realize that the number 45 on the signs along the side of the road mean that they can actually go that speed and perhaps even a little more. Your virtue is sorely tested when you pop in line at the post office for a book of stamps only to end up behind the person that wants to weigh, insure and get return receipts for 23 packages going to 18 foreign nations that you’ve never even heard of. My solutions to these and other situations requiring patience are far too hideous to recount here as they involve much pain and anguish. These are situations where we simply have no control and have to wait it out and hope for the best.

Oh no, my friend. You've missed the point entirely. You've focused on the destination, not the journey.

[kuri]

I'll try to keep this in mind when I'm sitting in line at the post office this week. Oh man...

[Bond007]

How right you are that patience is required in almost anything we do AND say. Sometimes, especially around the holidays, we all need to remember to have a little more patience before we speak or act when we get agitated! Who knows what'll come out of my mouth these days! Sheesh!

Oh, and btw, I really hate to point this out, but in the above context, the word is spelled "principle", not "principal". The former refers to a belief, while the latter refers to a "person". Sorry, John. . . .

[K-Court]

And it's "refers" not "referes", Jamie. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Bond007]

Originally posted by K-Court:
And it's "refers" not "referes", Jamie. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Where? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[K-Court]

Originally posted by Bond007:

quote:

---

Originally posted by K-Court:
And it's "refers" not "referes", Jamie. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Where? [img]tongue.gif[/img] [/quote]LOL. Nice edit, trigger-finger. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[K-Court]

Thanks for the patience reminder, John. I will try to remember to be both passively and actively patient as the situation dictates. (My wife actually suggested over the weekend that she should drive more often when we're together since she is a much more patient driver in traffic ..... yeah right! )

[Mahler]

Originally posted by Bond007:
How right you are that patience is required in almost anything we do AND say. Sometimes, especially around the holidays, we all need to remember to have a little more patience before we speak or act when we get agitated! Who knows what'll come out of my mouth these days! Sheesh!

Oh, and btw, I really hate to point this out, but in the above context, the word is spelled "principle", not "principal". The former refers to a belief, while the latter refers to a "person". Sorry, John. . . .

Right on the money. The word, indeed, is principle. That is my punishment for writing impatiently.

Thanks.

Mahler

[Jean-Paul]

Good timing on this message. I was just about to "take out" a couple people who were testing my patience. And to follow Fish's comment, maybe reminding myself of the potential desination of a 6X10 cell with guy named "Lester" is enough motivation for me to apply the "patience principle" in my life.

[Deserve]

I don't drive anywhere. She like to drive and I hate to drive. Because of her job she knows where everything in city is located. It's awesome. I also have a propensity to bump into things which is not good.

I dream of the day when I can be picked up and taken to work in a nice towncar.

[Kevin T.]

As always, an excellent job Mr. Mahler. [img]smile.gif[/img]