Patience and Understanding

I had a bad day yesterday and a bad morning today, and I got impatient with  people. Every tiny thing got on my nerves... things that normally I'm patient enough to ignore. Then there's other things that always irritate me, and I get annoyed with the person doing it. Sometimes I can't understand why people act the way they do, or talk the way they do, or do what they do, and it also irritates me. But today I realised this:

Sometimes I get annoyed when my little brother asks stupid or trivial questions.
Sometimes I get annoyed when my Grandparents constantly call me by the wrong name.
Sometimes I get annoyed when an adult doesn't understand my problems.
Sometimes I get annoyed when someone asks me to repeat myself because they didn't hear... twice.
Sometimes I get annoyed when a really slow walker gets in my way and slows me down.
Sometimes I get annoyed when I have to explain something over and over again and they still don't get it.

And then I realise.

When I was a curious child I asked my parents silly questions and they always answered them, no matter how trivial they were.
When I was a toddler I called my family members the wrong thing and they always smiled and gently corrected me.
When an adult tells me their problems, I can't understand, but they smile and tell me not to worry.
When someone tells me something I don't always hear, and I have to ask them to repeat themselves, and they always do.
When I was smaller, or when I'm tired or injured, I walk really slowly and get in the way, but people put up with me.
When people explain something to me I don't always understand, but they keep explaining until I do, because they hold onto something even after I lose it - they have the patience and understanding.

Patience and understanding. Two beautiful qualities which we constantly demand but find difficult to give. Treating people the way we expect to be treated is a simple but great step to take. Maybe that's something we need to work on. Just a little thought.