“…could use some patience, yeah/gotta have some patience, yeah/all it takes is patience…”

The first concert I ever saw was Guns N’ Roses with a very green Soundgarden opening for them at the Worcester Centrum when I was 11 years old.

My Dad bit the bullet and brought me.

We got the tickets from Mr. Seder, my neighbor from across the street, who was in his 90s and known (he was written up in the local newspaper) for his proclivity to still catch rock shows now and again. He gave my father the seats, with the stipulation that we had to take his grandson Dougie and a friend with us.

After that concert, I definitely was not an 11-year-old in mind anymore.

I witnessed boozing, drugging, fighting, licking and whatever vile shit was spewing out of Axl Rose’s mouth. Coupled with the fact that the band didn’t go on until around midnight, my entire system was completely frazzled.

One memory that stands out though, was when I went to take a piss during GN’R’s set.

I distinctly remember being alone, in a bathroom packed with urinals designed for high volume pissing, and being overtaken by a calm as I tinkled to the song “Patience.”

One of the most difficult things to do in this life is to be patient.

Some 21 years later, my mind is drawn back to that memory, because the word, the thought, the concept and the nightmare that we call patience is nagging at me. I forget how sinister the cliché “hurry up and wait” can be, but it is still a powerful metaphor.

The main point that I am constantly reminded of is that life is not on my own clock. Ultimately, it will do with me as it pleases. I can cry, kick and scream, but all of those actions are exercises in futility. They just amplify whatever I’m not being patient and accepting of, until I stop in submission.

Call this my call to action or more appropriately inaction.

I think it’s time to be a little patient.

Ruben Honig is a freelance writer, consultant and generally creative guy.  He sometimes writes stories when he can’t sleep.  He doesn’t take himself too seriously, unless he does. Check out his blog at www.rubenhonig.tumblr.com and follow him on Twitter @rjhonig.

 

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Editor: ShaMecha Simms

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