Patience

Good Monday to all. I suppose that it is appropriate that today's posting is about Patience. I'm sorry for the delay in this posting, but Blogger seemed to be having issues preventing me from posting any earlier.

So, on to Patience....

Being patient is a process that arises from a sense of calm and well-being. When stressed, it is easy for a parent to fall into a dysregulated state, wherein emotional responses are often sharp-edged. Such a state makes the practice of patience much more difficult then when we are regulated in our emotional state and in the flow of our interactions with others. Again, self-awareness is the key, as it is important for parents to be aware of their own emotional state and to be sensitized to the times during which stress may be driving the nature of their interactions. Secondly, we must continually strive to be aware not only of our own emotional state but the state of our children. The practice of empathy, understanding and acceptance together can provide a basis for patience.

Because of the delay in posting, I would like to move on to the last of my Five Essential Tools for Parenting - LOVE.

Love combines empathy, understanding, acceptance and patience together to bring about a fulfilled and fulfilling presence. However, simply saying, "I love you" to a child is not enough. Love is not merely an emotion, but a long chain of behaviors and actions that, taken together, represent devotion to another. As such, love takes effort and a degree of honesty with ourselves and with others that brooks no diversion or deception.

Above all things, a child must feel loved. Becoming a parent in order to have someone to love or in an attempt to guarantee that we will have someone who loves us is the wrong reason to have or raise a child. An honest, open, empathic, accepting parent who is self-aware is one who is conscious of the issues in their own lives and who can set them aside (or work through them) so as to leave the path open between them and their children.

"Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13:8

Click here for a PDF version of this series.

Have a blessed day.