×

Patience And Tenacity Work Hand In Hand

This spring I learned a couple of things that taught even this older lady a lesson or two.

Last summer I remember knocking down a bird’s nest from the corner of our house. I did not notice it being built, but I did notice the bird droppings on our siding. The bird had built its nest between the downspout and the corner of the siding. I decided I’d better knock it down as to not encounter the same thing this year.

Guess what?

This spring I watched as a bird very carefully made another nest in the same spot just in time for the babies to arrive. Stick after stick, it looked like maybe two birds were busily forming a nest, perhaps mama and dad?

Although the weather was hotter than usual at the time, these birds kept flying out, picking up sticks, flying back to pack them down and retrieve any loose pieces. It was quite amazing to watch.

Not long after, I could see little movements inside the nest. Mama would fly in with a worm and feed her babies. I would then hear little squeaks coming from within the nest. I could not get over the patience and tenacity of these birds!

I use the words patience and tenacity often but decided to actually find the difference between the two words. Patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. It’s the quality of enduring. Synonyms would be restraint, self-restraint and forbearance. It is one of the seven heavenly virtues. Others are chastity, temperance, kindness, charity, diligence and humility.

This word is used many times throughout the Bible. One of my favorite passages is I Corinthians 13:4-13 (when speaking of love): “Love is patient, love is kind.” Or in Galatians 5:22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.” Joyce Meyer stated, “Patience is not simply the ability to wait — it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.”

The definition of tenacity is the state of holding on to an idea or a thing very strongly. An example of tenacity is an athlete with an injury completing a difficult race. Synonyms include persistence, determination, perseverance and steadfastness.

Another example of this tenacity would be the spider’s web that I destroyed one morning. As I cleaned off our back porch, I used my broom to clear away a large spider web without even giving it a thought. The very next morning I walked out to the porch and wouldn’t you know it — the entire web was back.

I just stood there and stared at it. As a light breeze came up and moved the web around, I noticed how intricately it was spun — just perfect.

The Rev. Billy Graham once said, “Each life is made up of mistakes and learning, waiting and growing, practicing patience and being persistent.”

Well, these little examples started me thinking of us humans and how we want instant gratification. We have cell phones that text or call one another immediately. Remember when you had to wait until you got home to use a landline? Or how we used to have typewriters to write a letter — now we just text.

Some people go through the drive-thru at a fast food restaurant and barely have the patience to wait in line if it takes more than 60 seconds.

Have you ever been stopped at a red light and as the light turns green, someone behind you blows their horn?

Oh, yeah, let’s not forget about our modern-day televisions. I’m sure some of us still remember when we only had two or three channels to watch. Now if we have 30 to choose from, we want 50!

I notice in my household that channel-surfing has become like a show in itself, a pastime I guess. By the time a program has been chosen, you’ve missed the vital first 15 minutes or so. If I’m watching a show I want to see it from the beginning. Am I the only one that feels this way?

Not if, but when, this happens, I do have the patience to go find another of the 101 things elsewhere to do. I’m sure that if you think about it, you can also relate to some of this.

Writer Ralph Marston penned, “The keys to patience are acceptance and faith. Accept things as they are, and look realistically at the world around you. Have faith in yourself and in the direction you have chosen.”

And so, dear readers, let’s agree to slow down a bit, enjoy the day or the weather, take a walk in the park or in your backyard. Have you noticed anything in nature, smelled the flowers, grown a little garden? Summer will be over soon — have you done anything that you hoped you could this year?

Be sure to do something fun with your little ones before summer ends. And, above all, have patience with yourself and others around you.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today