Patience!

Recently, I contracted some kind of sinus infection after traveling out of town for a weekend. I tested negative for COVID in the following days, however, I felt I should not be out infecting people and canceled my attendance at an important conference.

Under these circumstances, two things happen. First, we self-diagnose. Of course, we must be careful to be sure that it is not more serious than it seems and be sure to check in with our favorite medical professional if it heads in the wrong direction. Our self-diagnosis generally results in applying whatever curative or restorative techniques that have worked for us in the past.

Second, our friends ALL have a cure. They seem to know how my ailment must be treated. Of course, it is never the same among individuals and the cures are wide and varied. Not a one of these friends are medical professionals or scientists, and there is no guarantee that their cures were anything more than a placebo. I do believe that they were offering me what worked for them – without knowing what worked for me.

What I learned was that my friends do care for me. I appreciate that love more than anything, and while being stuffed up with a headache, it was some consolation.

In my case, the “cure” was regular cold+sinus medication, and….. patience. Addressing being stuffed up and headachy with pills has always worked for me in the past. Yet that did not immediately “fix” the situation. What I needed more than anything was to wait until my body had taken its time to address the illness. I sniffled and coughed through four days until finally, the running of everything receded. On the fifth day, I went without pills and felt immensely better.

As my illness progressed, I definitely did want it to be over quickly. I realized that was not the normal progression, and I gave myself a break. I allowed myself patience.

While evolving from a technologist who speaks to calling myself a “speaker”, patience has been far from the forefront. I want everything to happen ~now~. I want to be on stages speaking every week. However, nothing – I repeat, nothing – happens the moment you ask for it. Ok, maybe you are at an ice cream shop and you want an ice cream?

I am in the process of setting up all the materials and processes I need for my speaking business. The investment of time and money I am making now will have a huge return in the future. It all takes time and energy, and patience is required. It is important that I stop beating myself up for not getting everything done now, and lean in to the adventure.

My patience is being rewarded, and I am seeing results every new day.

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Trevor Perry