Day 364

I sometimes refer to myself as patient, but I am not sure that is as true as I would like it to be. In fact, a Google search of my blog yielded no results where I referred to myself as patient. Here's who has been recognized as patient in my brief blogging career:

• The photographer on Day 87 when we took family photos shortly before Kathy passed away
• Catherine on Day 24 when I was struggling during the Silver Comet Marathon
• Richard on Day 151 when I mentioned sweating the small stuff
• Richard (again) on Day 119, which was actually me quoting a Facebook post I wrote in 2016 about Richard tolerating my antics
• Paul on Day 279, my first day at Lunchtime Lifts

The only time I mentioned patience in relation to myself was a hypothetical on Day 149 - I could do a good job styling my hair on my own if I had the patience to straighten my hair in teeny tiny strands. (This is not a priority for me.) If I have never mentioned being patient about anything in 300+ days of blogging, how patient could I really be? I guess that's to be determined, but I'm thinking I'm not going to be breaking any records anytime soon.

Today is the anniversary of when I found out I was not accepted to NC State for my Ph.D., and looking back on my Facebook memories, I thought about how the admissions decision forced me to be patient. I had been working on a plan that did not come to fruition, and I had to pause to figure out the next steps. Of the many lessons I learned and positive things I gained from that rejection, one I have overlooked is that for a brief time, I had to wait on other things to fall in place before I could move forward. Life gave me no choice but to be patient while Richard and I figured out our next steps.

Although writing these daily blog posts (which are often short) affords me some opportunities to reflect, I still don't feel like I take enough time to stop and appreciate everything that has led to this point. (Tomorrow is the anniversary of the great car meltdown where I dragged snot across my face with my raincoat, so maybe I'll do a bit more of that tomorrow.) While I feel a little silly about revisiting the anniversary of this day, but if I can continue to learn new lessons from the experience, I suppose it is worthwhile. Currently, there are things going on in multiple areas of my life that are requiring patience, and I am not doing the greatest job stepping up to the challenge. Hopefully, this reflection today will stick with me and remind me to be more patient as I move through the next few months. 

Photo from Pixabay

Something that made today great: Comfy pajamas

Time I woke up: 7:45 am