Patience is a virtue that I really haven’t had much of in my life. I get this from my father. There are many stories from my childhood that relate to his lack of patience. Some are quite funny and others are not at all.

I know very well about myself that I am lacking in this fabulous trait and I work hard everyday to find more of it within myself. Especially now that I am a mother. I find that if there is one thing a parent needs, it is patience. Kids do things very slowly, as any parent knows. They eat slowly, they pee slowly, they get dressed slowly.

Not only that, but they are little wonderful people that are still enamored and mesmerized by the little stuff in life. So, they’re ready to slow down and check out blades of grass and look at bugs, and show me shapes they see in the clouds. All while I am racing to the car to strap them into their carseats and race off to do errands, too busy to stop and savor some small moments. I find myself blocking out the constant chatter in the car, dismissing little questions about a big world, and not realizing how important those things are to little lives.

I’ve started trying to slow down, take deep breaths, take shorter strides (anyone who’s seen this nearly 6 foot tall lady walk knows I don’t stroll), and look around more. I have started to notice things that I didn’t before. Not only is it helping my parenting, which it is, dramatically, but it is also transferring to other areas of my life.

Being patient on a smaller scale in the everyday little stuff has suddenly turned into being patient with much bigger stuff too. Like the house remodeling progress, saving money, being frugal…all of those things that make up the foundation for our future. I have talked before about how being frugal makes me a better person and it’s true, being frugal makes me exhibit patience. Or is it that now that I am more patient, I find it much easier to be frugal? It may just be the latter. I am able like never before to see the ramifications of my actions today and how they’ll make for a better tomorrow for me and my family. Making sound financial decisions today when we’re already standing on a pretty decent foundation is going to pay off for us, I know. I am in a generation that lacks patience. But I can see the damage it is and is going to continue to do to people and I refuse to be one of them. Just call me defiant and contrary.

I am still very much a person who lives for today. I am impulsive. I live life with my arms wide open and my heart on my sleeve. Maybe it’s motherhood, maybe it’s maturity, it’s probably a combination of many things, but whatever it is…I’ve slowed down a bit. I’ve started finding that balance in living life to the fullest each day but also looking toward tomorrow. For the first time, I have a future that I can see and I have big dreams that need to be filled for myself and my family. A little patience today is going to get us there.