5 Reasons Patience is my 2017 Word

~ Chocolaterunsjudy

patience

Every year I pick a word that I want to use as my mantra, if you will, for the year. It’s usually something I need to work on.2016’s word was Respect (you can read that post here).Yes, I am off theme today for the  Friday Five 2.0  from Fairytales & Fitness and Rachel @ Running on Happy again.

I’m not sure how many years I’ve been picking a word for the year, but it’s been quite a few years now. Some years I have to think long and hard about what I want to focus on, but in the end, it always just pops into my mind. Patience popped into my mind before my most recent half.

frifive2

I need patience with others
Maybe it’s a menopausal thing, but sometimes I find myself being short with others over silly things. Over things that don’t matter. They seem to matter immensely in the moment, but in the long run, not so much.

I think we tend to be shortest with those we love. I’ve been working on that for a long time, but while I have patience for many things, it can be hard to be patient with other people.

Progress, not perfection.

I need patience with my body
If you follow my blog for any length of time, you’ll learn that weight management is a struggle for me. I’m not blessed with a good metabolism, I’m middle aged, and I’m short. These things do not make weight loss/management easy. They don’t make it impossible, either. It just take patience. A #holotta patience (I bet you’re already sick of that hashtag — guess you’ll need some patience to read my posts!).

There are no quick fixes or easy answers. It takes consistency and dedication. And yes, a #holotta patience.

And then there’s those niggling little injuries that seem to come out of nowhere. While I’ve had two good years of running in 2015 &2016, they weren’t without their challenges (hello, ITBand & ankle). It takes patience to deal with those niggles.

I need patience with the furkids
It’s amazing how those little bundles of fluff can make you so happy and so angry at the same time. They are never “naughty” and they don’t get “guilty” either. That guilty look? It’s because you’re angry with them, not because they feel guilt over what they’ve done.

Bandit has done an almost complete 180 since we got him — it’s been just amazing to see how this dog that nipped when threatened (or outright bit) and growled at random people (even dog people) will now jump on people with his tail wagging.

People comment all the time on what a good job I’ve done with him. I think others would have been far more patient with him than me — but yes, I know that others would have been even quicker to give him up. It’s taken a lot of patience, and will continue to take patience — he’s not done with his training yet.

I was bombarded with stories of dogs that couldn’t make the transition and advised by more than one vet to put him down. It was hard and I didn’t want to do it, but I also didn’t feel he deserved to die because of circumstances beyond his control.

I’ve been rewarded by seeing Lola and Bandit grow closer and closer. He’s still a work in progress, but I think soon he will gain total freedom in the house. Although we still have to decide about the bed.

I need patience with the parents
I have to let my mom vent. I have to continually try to put a positive spin on things. I have to gently and patiently point out the reasons their home was no longer a good environment for them. Occasionally I just have to take the blame for something that wasn’t my fault. And I need to hold onto the hope that eventually, with patience, they will find their way and become happier in their new home.

I need patience with my training
It is so, so easy to feel that you have trained hard and you deserve a good race, if not a PR. Yes, in the past, I have felt that way. Of course with every race I am trying my best and have hopes of a PR, but I have come to learn that training takes patience — that PR may not come after one training cycle, or two, or even after a year of training. That doesn’t mean the training isn’t working.

It takes a #holotta patience to keep training, without seeing results, knowing that someday that training will pay off. But it’s worth it. It’s so totally worth it.

Talk to me. Leave a comment or answer a question:

Have you ever picked a word to work on?

What things in your life make you impatient?

Have you ever had to wait several training cycles for that hard work to pay off?

37 thoughts on “5 Reasons Patience is my 2017 Word”

  1. I have never picked a word to work on, but I know it works for a lot of people. I usually have a bigger of idea where I want to be at the end of next year, and then some shorter term goals throughout the year.
    And I definitely get impatient with school. A lot of times I think that I’m never going to use the things I’m learning in my career, but then I remind myself why I’m doing it all & that helps :)) It will be interesting to read how patience pops up in your 2017!

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  2. Patience never goes amiss, no matter who you are😊 It’s the first step to listening, understanding and a more peaceful world. A very good choice!

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    1. I can be very patient. Unless I’m not. 🙂

      Bandit is a completely different dog, but I’m also very mindful that given the wrong situation, he could definitely bite again.

      I’m really thankful that he’s getting along so well with Lola, although I wish he’d play with her more. She loves to play! He just doesn’t seem that into other dogs, but occasionally they play and maybe more as time goes on — I hope.

      I’ve been surprised how well Gizmo has taken to him being here, since in general he is just not happy with dogs at all.

      Gizmo did hiss at him yesterday when he started to get a little too close (they were both laying on me), but the hissing has been really rare.

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  5. You inspired me to choose a word of the year last year, and I just posted mine for 2017! Patience is so important-I agree with everything you posted here 🙂

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    1. 2015 wasn’t great, so I was looking forward to 2016. And 2016 was bipolar: some great times but more really, really bad times. It was a tough year.

      I guess you just have to always look for that silver lining.

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  9. I have not really picked a word, but I have noticed how years do develop themes…
    You know the ladies at church use to warn me never to ask for patience LOL who knows what will test you.
    I could use quite a dose of patience myself, and maybe even more i just some to work acceptance ..acceptance of self and circumstances I can’t change.
    I think you already have a good bit of patience 😉 with your furry babies and training and you are reaping the rewards from that.

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  10. Patience – oh boy! Do I need work on this! I recently started working out at the gym, doing strengthening workouts that I’ve never done before and I’m slowly adding on more weights, but I haven’t lost a single dang pound! And my husband has lost 15! Ugh! But it’s only been a month and I think I need to just be patient to see results. As far you, I think you should cut yourself some slack. You have had a lot going on and your amount of patience is admirable, especially when it comes to Bandit. You didn’t give up on him and it’s paying off! He is a happy, well-loved dog!

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    1. Well, first off, it’s one of life’s little indignities — men lose weight almost without trying. So unfair!

      Second, how are the clothes fitting? If you’re putting on muscle, your clothes should fit looser, and the clothes don’t lie — but the scale might.

      Does your trainer do body fat? That one can be tricky, but it can also be an indication of what’s going on.

      I can be very patient, and there are definitely times this year I was. I can also fly off the handle pretty easily, so I just want to keep that in mind & work on it next year.

      I did a pretty good job in the Respect department this year, especially listening to my body and taking more rest days when really needed (like now) even though I really didn’t want to!

      Still not sure how Bandit will react to a vet visit. Which is why I just take him occasionally so he can get used to the hullabaloo at a vet. But that’s a far cry from actually being examined.

      I must say he’s been a good blanket for me lately. 🙂

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      1. I haven’t noticed anything particularly different about my body. My clothes seem to fit the same. I have, however, noticed that my running has improved! I can run at a faster speed for longer periods of time, and I’m also getting stronger, as I’ve been increasing the weights I’m using at the gym. So that’s something, at least! I just sent my meal plan for next week to my trainer. Waiting to see if he thinks I’m getting enough protein, or I’m eating enough calories (or too many?), so we’ll see.

        It’s definitely normal to be short on patience sometimes, especially when we’re under a lot of stress.

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      2. Endurance is a good thing!

        Many years ago, I worked out with a trainer, and she couldn’t see why I wasn’t losing weight. Of course, I weigh almost as much now as I did then — except now I no longer feel fat at that weight! Most days, anyway.

        In the end, she wasn’t much help.

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  11. Patience is a good word. I’ve picked words in the past but I’m still in denial the year is ending. Bandit is like a different dog since you got him. You’ve done an amazing job with him! I hear you on the parent patience thing. My mom vents over the phone to me every Monday….for freaking hours.

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    1. I’m kind of happy to see the year end. Many good things happened, but it was still a hard year.

      I have 2 siblings . . . sometimes we all talk to her on the same day, but even when we don’t, we don’t talk for hours. I guess I’m lucky!

      But I do get “when are you coming down” even if we’ve just been there. Like I’ve gotta try for next weekend.

      Then again, they’re not really happy and that’s hard on us all. Plus we hope to sell the house, which is going to be a holotta work.

      Sometimes I wish I lived closer, and other times I’m glad I don’t!

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  12. I will admit, I am not a patient person. I have to work very hard every day to be patient. I teach elementary school so… patience is sort of a job requirement! I just tell myself to take a deep breath and relax and remember it is NOT ABOUT ME but the STUDENT.

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  15. SO many great thoughts in this post, Judy!!!! I can totally relate to what you said about having patience with training. I have had a tough couple years with my half marathons…I’ve been in a plateau and it’s frustrating. That said, I am thankful for having the ability to do half marathons and still finish with a smile on my face and “gas in the tank” and only need a few days of recovery time. This last marathon really did a number on me….I trained so hard for it, then race day kind of smacked me between the eyes with that hip/groin crap. Thankfully, my training did work in that it allowed me to persevere and finish the race, but it was nowhere close to the finish time I had hoped for. But, this certainly is not my last marathon, and even if I don’t ever get that PR, I still know I can run those 26.2 miles regardless. Patience is really something all of need to strive for 😉

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    1. And I can totally relate to your reply-substitute half for full & I could’ve written this in the past (and no doubt could in the future, too).

      The year I trained the hardest was my most disappointing year & ended with another injury. Not sure there was a cause & effect but it wasn’t fun.

      That was a couple of years ago so obviously I didn’t let it stop me.

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  16. I always pick a word each year. But the truth is that I never look at the post until I’m ready to choose a new one. So I just found out that this year was GRATITUDE and it rings true, I was grateful for many things in my running including PRs, vacations, new and old running friends, etc.

    Patience is not my virtue for many things. Right now, my job and my boss are trying my patience. But I have decided that more important than patience is ACCEPTANCE. It is what it is. Somethings you cannot change – people, your metabolism and body (without plastic surgery), your speed (some people are just faster than others).

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    1. It’s still frustrating not to be able to run with the “average” runners. It would be easier to find running buddies if I could.

      So acceptance is good for the things you can’t change (the old serenity prayer), but speed can be changed. Sometimes. I would never have worked this hard for this long if I didn’t believe that, and it was definitely nice to finally see it pay off.

      Not that I expect to run my next half at the same speed. I really do think that having expectations of speed, but training for it anyway, works for me.

      Sometimes. I need to find more halfs that are flat, in the low 50s, and not windy. Not too much to ask for, right?

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  17. I think patience is a great word for 2017. I haven’t thought much about what mine would be. Change pops into mind. Change in my running goals. Change from my current routine. I get bored quickly and am feeling the need to shake things up a bit. So CHANGE it will be.

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