Now at first glance the title doesn’t make much sense, does it?

The phrase popped into my head a few weeks ago, and I’ve been pondering it ever since.

I’ve concluded it makes a lot of sense.

My two-year old and patience do not mix. If he doesn’t get what he wants the instant he wants it, watch out. He rarely had a tantrum (thankfully), but he is persistent. Each time he asks (demands) something, he gets more frustrated and loud. To the point I have to yell at him to get him to stop asking (demanding). For instance, a few days ago we stopped at a Auntie Anne’s pretzel shop in the mall. I ordered a pretzel with pepperoni, and the gal at the counter said almost apologetically, “We have to make it and it’ll take about seven minutes.”

I didn’t mind at all. After all, what’s seven minutes? Thomas, however, after two minutes kept saying, “Pretzel, where’s pretzel.” Sigh.

I watch youth from teenagers up until their early twenties, and they also expect to get what they need when they need it. I know a younger driver merely by detecting the car’s speed. Standing in line for a subway sandwich is also a challenge.

Yet when I watch older people, they seem to not care that they have to wait in line at the grocery store, they drive annoyingly slow, and when they walk it’s more of a stroll.

You’d think it would be the opposite. The young, after all, believe they have all the time they’ll ever need, and in most cases they do. The older we get the more we realize our days are numbered, and today could be our last.

Why then do we gain more patient as we age? I think it’s about taking the time to savor that life. We know how short it is, so why waste it on trivial matters such as having to wait five minutes in line or for that long light to turn green.

And as we wait, patiently, we tend to notice things we might otherwise miss such as an amazing sunset or a child giggling on a park swing.

I thought I pulled one over on God by never asking him to give me patience. I didn’t want to be tested or tempered. Yet whenever I wanted something badly enough such as the desire to see my writing published, the answer was always, “Wait.” This waiting began during my teenage years, so I’ve been waiting a long time.

Now I don’t mind waiting so much. I’ve learned and grown a lot during this lifetime of waiting. God, apparently knew — and knows — what he’s doing, because I wouldn’t trade the waiting for anything.

A few minutes ago I sent my manuscript off to Marcher Lord Press. I get to wait some more.

However, it’s not a time to sit around and check my email every ten minutes. With “Traitors” out of my hands and out of my mind, I’m free to pursue other projects. In this case it’s the sequel to a different story I’ve mentioned before titled “The Red Dagger.” I plan on delving into that for nanowrimo. Over the rest of October I’ll finish up the outline which is about 1/3 done. I also plan to edit the first book one more time and query agents for it.

So as long as I stay occupied and productive, I won’t have time to be impatient.