I don’t like waiting very much. I always feel like there’s something I could or should be doing rather than exercising patience. When a change is looming and I can not accelerate it I feel antsy and disconnected. It’s very ironic then, that I happen to be a very patient person. I talked a bit the other day about how I’m trying to come to terms with foreknowledge.

Today foreknowledge is testing my patience.

I believe that what you do is important. But I believe that when you do it is just as important. Addressing conflict with someone when you’re both in a bad mood will likely have unpleasant results. Addressing that conflict at a different time may bring very different results. You may say the exact same things, go through the same process, but have radically different experiences.

For me, this is the core of patience. Knowing what to do is very easy. Knowing when to do it is much more difficult. For instance, I’ve never been good with money. In fact, I’m pretty lousy with it. I don’t value it very much, other than for the comforts and pleasures it can purchase in my life. As a result, I don’t live as frugally or carefully as I probably should. Knowing this, I also know that I need to make some adjustments to correct that pattern and become more responsible with my money. But when to make those changes, that’s an important question.

Before I go any further, let me be clear, I am a procrastinator. I tend to put things off. I’m not going to try and tell you that my ‘wait for the right moment’ strategy is the source of my procrastination. In fact, my habit of procrastinating sometimes makes this strategy very difficult to implement, because I have to discern the right moment and act immediately. I also have to be able to discern when I’m waiting because it’s not time yet, and when I’m waiting because I’m procrastinating. Needless to say, this can be very challenging.

So looking at my money challenges, there are two things that can alleviate them. One, making more. Two, spending less. Ideally both of these things can happen. There are lots of things I can do to address them. I can eat out less. I can put together a savings plan. I can trick myself, or put some of my money out of reach. I can look for a better paying job, or ask for a raise. I can start doing some more consulting work, or trying to make money in other ways.

The trick here is applying those possible courses of action at the right time. Now is not a good time to look for a new job. I could find one, but I’d be abandoning a lot of potential where I am now. It’s also not a good economic time to begin career hopping. Now is a good time to try and cut back on what I’m spending, so I’ve begun taking a good portion of my income and socking it away and not spending it unless I absolutely have to.

But now is not a good time to make my life more challenging by being too hard on myself. I’m very busy at work and I have several spiritual matters that are taking a great deal of my attention coming to a head in the next several weeks. Cutting back or adjusting my pattern too severely would hurt those other efforts, not to mention make it difficult to continue taking karate, and cultivating the new projects and relationships I’m trying to develop.

So I make some further plans for after the current events are resolved, and sit on them until then. Thus comes the waiting. Usually it’s not too bad, but sometimes it’s a major challenge in life. Who likes to sit around doing nothing and stare at an unavoidable event when you’ve already done everything you can to prepare for it? I’m feeling a lot of that right now.

One of the things that is also important to keep in mind, is that just because you’ve made a plan that you can implement later, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t review and adjust it as needed. Situations change. You may be able to implement your plan, or a modified version of it, sooner than you thought. Or you may have to wait longer. Sometimes I make several plans, and wait until a situation arises that one of those plans applies to, then I act.

This is all well and good for dealing with your finances, but where it really comes in handy is dealing with people. Perhaps another time I’ll share some of my thoughts or approach on that, but tonight I’m feeling tired and want to cuddle with my kitty.