I was able to practice the virtue of patience in two main ways this past week. Primarily, it began with the multiple rejections I faced in the pursuit of finding professionals in the field of geriatrics who were available and willing to help me gain research information through interviews. Although I completely understand and have moved past those who had to turn down my request, it doesn’t take away from the fact that I found frustrations along the way. However, I believe that the most important aspect of this experience is the ability to move forwards and not allow one rejection to hold you back from another attempt or allow the rejection to affect confidence in future interactions. There are many situations where it is not the right time or place to make such requests, but I have come to understand that trying and failing is better than never having tried at all.
The second necessity for patience was witnessing frustration of others. Specifically, during my volunteering at my local assisted living facility, the residents were given a variety of activities to choose from. Being the leader of the activities, I wanted to ensure that each resident was being engaged and having a good time. However, a recurring issue I found was the adamant self-doubt from many of the residents. They would claim to have no interest in a certain activity because certain physical limitations would make them “no good” at it. In this situation I learned that it is not that they hate the activity itself, but they fear not being able to perform as well as their peers whether it be because of physical or cognitive limitations. Therefore, I found it beneficial to coach them into the activity while offering encouragement, at which point they were able to enjoy it without fear of judgment.
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