Patience and Longsuffering

     For those of you who share rooms with siblings, live with a roommate, or anything else where one may share a living quarters with another, you may sometimes feel like the things that the other person is doing bothers you-- a great deal.

     As for me, for two years, this is my life.  I share a living space with one or two other people.  It can be quite stressful dealing with the habits of others, but the most important thing I learn from this experience is tolerance.

     While living with others, this tendency to frown upon many weird habits of others may be quite natural to you-- maybe you get irritated for not cleaning up that mess in the kitchen.  Maybe they wake up late and just sit around the quarters doing nothing but sit next to the computer and eat chips all day.  It's fascinatingly stressful, but it's something that we have no say on.  From these negative thoughts, we build more and more negative thoughts about that person and the faults that he or she has until that person becomes unbearable to live with.

     In the mission field, I thought to myself "good riddance" to my previous companion every time I got assigned a new one.  However, more and more, I found myself saying that to every companion I've been with for the longest time!  Good riddance to waking up late.  Good riddance to eating too much.  Good riddance to using my things without my permission.  Honestly, it was empowering for me-- for the best of a day.  Then, when the next companion rolled along, you couldn't think of anything but the faults they make!

     This kind of negative, sardonic thinking isn't going to make life any more tolerable.  In fact, it'll probably only make it worse, satiating the hateful desire for the shortest time.  We all have people we may not get along with-- they may roam around our very premises!  The attitude of disdain sucks.  So, when you encounter a situation like this, look at all the good things about the person you're living with!  Tell them about those things!  And if any of their actions are bothering you, don't be afraid to ask them and resolve it with love and forbearance!  It's probably the hardest trait that you're ever going to have to learn if you want a family of your own.  I admonish you to start early so that it doesn't become a problem later.

     In the words of a wise, wise, anonymous person, "turn that frown upside down!"