Perseverance: The Soulmate of Patience

"Hi."

"Err...have we met," asked Perseverance.

"Of course we have. I'm Patience. You dance blindly with me each day."

"Oh," said Perseverance with a nervous laugh. "I guess I do."

I don't often think of myself as a patient person.

I have worked as an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse for nearly six years, which requires grueling amounts of patience. I am constantly waiting for the doctors to round, waiting on pharmacists to send medications to the unit, waiting for my patient to get better...or kick the bucket. Harsh, I know, but true. I watch the clock with dry eyes, listening to every tick as seconds turn to minutes. I usually find myself grumbling once minutes turn into half an hour. Patience and I don't seem to be the best of friends, but in the past few weeks I have realized we are more than simple acquaintances.

I will be honest. Ready for it? I love every moment I help someone in the hospital, whether it be a patient or family member; but I do not fully enjoy being a nurse. I knew I was going to have a problem with the profession the moment I had to leave reading and writing for pleasure behind in nursing school. I should have listened to my knotted gut, my intuition. I did not, so there I was crying before and after shifts. Unhappy. I do believe everything happens for a reason, though, and I think I was meant to have a life lesson not only in patience, but in perseverance. I have the tenacity of a honey badger. Giving up and in to my adult life was not the answer I was looking for. Answers came in spurts. Yoga teacher training was first. Then I read #StephenKing's book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. If you haven't read it, I totally suggest you do whether you want to be a writer or not. I started keeping a journal and collecting books again.

Three years later, and here I am on my way to living my best life.

I work part time as a nurse in the hospital making my own schedule. I write on my days off and take writing classes at a wonderful place in Orlando called Writer's Atelier. I write with my animals at home. I write in coffee/tea shops around my city. I have had the opportunity to blow through my to be read (#TBR) pile and purchase more books to add to it. I didn't realize how much of my happiness came from reading and writing until it was taken from me. I had to fight and have patience to get it back. "It" being happiness.

I have come to accept that, against society's and my family's expectations, I am a creative. I was told by teachers and certain family members, "You are smarter than that. Don't waste your time on that." My first piece of advice before this entry is over: Be YOU. There will be plenty of other things denied to you in this world...your ability to showcase you shouldn't be one of them.

And guess what? I am in the middle of writing a #YA fiction fantasy book and I just finished writing and editing my first children's picture book. My family hasn't seen me so happy in a long, long time. They have been patient with me, as I have been patient with them to understand. Now I must persevere through this self publishing stage of my journey, which seems daunting and scary.

I have patience on my side, along with family and friends. So here's to my second and last piece of advice: Have patience and perseverance will come. They go together like oat milk and tea.

Next time you think you can't, take a breath...or two...maybe three. Have patience. Things will turn out as they should be if you take some time to believe.

-K.M.