🧠 Weekly Mind Sweep #73 | What’s On My Mind | Patience
May 2023
Week 70: Curated Conversation; Patience
Week 71: Mind Your Business; Patience
Week 72: Manage Your Mind; Patience
*Week 73: Contemplation; What’s on My Mind: My Thoughts on Patience
New to the Weekly MindSweep? Past issues live here.
When I was little, my grandmother would make us homemade hand-cut french fries. While I loved helping her peel the potatoes so she could cut them, waiting to have hot fries to eat felt like forever. I can still remember the smell of the oil, the frying potato, and the salt as I'd toss a fresh hot one in my mouth.
Once the fries had drained and cooled, I'd reach for the ketchup bottle. You remember the one: the glass bottle with the metal cap. I was taught early that to start the ketchup bottle; you must position the palm of your hand over the embossed number 57 and whack it just right. I'd continue to hit this bottle as long as it took for the sweet and salty river of red deliciousness to flow out.
[If you're like me, you have made a safe space on your plate for the ketchup to land. But, if you're weird, you let it cover your fries like hot fudge, and well, that's all wrong.]
We've witnessed over time that this American-loved condiment has shifted into a plastic bottle. My then 3-year-old twins would never learn the art of patience waiting for their ketchup to accompany their chicken nuggets. Just tip the bottle over, give it a shake, and squeeze. Voila!
Now, they are 17 and seem to put ketchup on their ketchup, so we buy the most giant bottle they make. There is still only one brand to grace our refrigerator: Heinz 57. It's cute that they still emboss the bottle with the 57, even though it's packaged upside down, and this trick is no longer necessary to access your nectar.
Kids today only have to wait long enough for their sibling to pass it across the table.
Patience; when something is worth waiting for. Like Heinz 57 out of a glass bottle.
Now, let’s sweep the brain…
Like most of our topics, working through the definition of patience this month has brought deeper awareness of where this shows up in my life and those around me. I notice more deeply that some humans around me have a beautiful ability to wait patiently.
And then, there is that person in Boston that beeps at you the second the traffic light turns green.
Frustration happens.
With no wait for the answers to our questions, our society loses patience daily. We've learned to be accustomed to low energy - high reward, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down but rather speeding up.
Kinda like our ketchup has. Why wait when you can have it now?
Here are 10 reasons why we should spend time building our patience muscle:
Inner joy
Acceptance
Consciousness
Trust in yourself
You will be more confident
Access to your inner wisdom
Acceptance of the flow of life
Making decisions becomes easier
Your inner thoughts become more peaceful
The ability to hear what is being communicated to us more clearly
Impatience creates stress on your inner well-being as well as those around you.
Stop. Pause. Take it all in.
As entrepreneurs, we have many choices in spending our time, energy, and attention. I invite you to consider practicing patience with yourself and others.
It's a challenging skill to master. But, worth it.
Ready for support?
Wanna go have fries with me?
We can do it together. I can help.
Where to find me
EVERY MONDAY: 8 am - Curated Conversation - Zoom
THINK TWICE: Did you miss our Live? I’ve got you; the replay is available inside the Chickbook Creative Community. Are you NOT A MEMBER YET?! Join the group here.
MISS MY VOICE? Check out recent podcast episodes.
What I’m reading
25th Anniversary Edition of Bird By Bird; Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
A little birdie in my life sent me this beautiful gift in the mail. I’m excited to deepen my experience with being a writer and learn a deeper understanding of the state of mind a writer could benefit from. #ThankYouEmily
Learn more about Anne Lamott.
What I’m listening to:
Speaking of Psychology
How parents and their adult children can build strong relationships, with Laurence Steinberg, PhD
The lives of young adults look far different than they did a generation ago: The average age at which people marry and have children is higher than ever, and rising housing costs mean more young adults are living with parents. Laurence Steinberg, PhD, of Temple University, talks about how these changes are affecting the relationship between parents and their grown children, what young adults wish their parents understood about their lives, and how parents and adult children can resolve conflicts and build a strong relationship together.
