In the Jewish religion, chai or 18 means long life. While none of us know how many years any of us have, we do have a choice the “life” we put into our years.

Today I was on the phone with a customer service representative and she was so incredibly pleasant, supportive but mostly patient. I asked her how doing what she does, basically dealing with stressed out, impatient, overwhelmed customers all day, how could she be so patient.

She responded in lilting melodic Island accent, “My dear Ms. Barth when I prepare my day, I pack along patience for each meal, patience for breakfast, patience for lunch, patience for dinner, and patience in between. Not even because I need it, or it will serve my customers, simply because it just feels so much better to be patient.”

What wise words to start end and live your day with! I wonder how many relationships would thrive, health problems would lower, and circumstances would shift if that’s all we did in a day.

Patience is NOT one of my virtues; far from it, but today this wonderful sweet woman was my teacher, my messenger!

No matter what challenges you may face today, may you pack an extra portion of patience on your journey.

Thanks for tuning in and not tuning out!