Patience: Sign of strength or weakness

Just a little patience....Axl Rose sang.

Some people have it in abundance. I'd like to think I'm one of them. I mean I know everyone has patience, some with a higher emotional threshold before they burst at the seams. Not everyone can remain calm after being hit at the back of the head with a metal pipe out of the blue. That story's for another day though.

Patience is a double-edged sword. While some see it as a strength of one's character, others may see it as a sign of weakness or of gross meekness. Take my example. My inaction at being hit with a metal pipe can be seen as a sign of mental toughness in not reacting to such provocation or as a sign of my fear for fights, aka, cowardice.

How we define it to be depends on how well we know the person displaying that patience. In my case, those close to me would probably say that it was my strength in character in not responding, while those close to the agent provocateur would probably say I was scared to retaliate. Whichever way you see it, I'm pretty sure I'd have whooped his ass had I retaliated. Enough about that though.

Some things happened over the weekend also tested the limits of my patience. I'm not going to talk about it in detail right now because of a promise I made. However, it would be suffice to say it's a story that would never go away. Unfortunate me. It's just something I have to live with, though not necessarily mean having to reconcile with. While chatting with some friends, I said something which made me think again, " It's like having to deal with one problem isn't a stiff enough test for me, God decided that 2+1 would be a better test."

As much as I know and believe that one marries into a family and never just the person alone, I do wish that I can choose my family members at times. I guess it's all part of His grand design he has for all of us. For me, it's dealing with the people around me for whom I have neither care nor love for. I know that I have to remain patient for my wife and, especially, my baby's sake.

Please God, give me the strength to overcome this test you have given me with my dignity and sanity intact. Amin Ya Rabbal Al Amin.