The Kindness of Waiting

"Patience is not simply the ability to wait - it's how we behave while we wait."
~ Joyce Meyer

When my children were little, I used to tell them that patience is "waiting with a smile" -- because if we are upset about waiting, then that is not being patient.

I was reminded of this while attending a series of business meetings with colleagues in another city.  We had traveled from different parts of the country for this event.  One of my colleagues e-mailed me the evening I arrived to see if I wanted to walk over to the meeting site with her the next day.  Of course, I replied.  The next morning, I was running a few minutes late, so I texted her that she could go on without me. "I don't mind waiting," she replied.  A few minutes later, I met her in the hotel lobby and we walked to our meeting together.

The kindness of waiting was something I continued to observe that day as the group moved from the business meeting site to the evening event locale and then to the hotel. Colleagues, who didn't know each other very well, graciously and patiently waited for each other.  The city was cold and I have no doubt that we all missed our families, but the kindness we shared warmed out hearts.