Truth: Anxiously waiting for a reward isn’t being patient.

I have a puppy.

He’s awesome, spunky, sweet and frisky.  He loves playing in water, snuggling, and being impossibly adorable.  My dad named him Sputnik.  Sputs for short.  In training Sput I’ve accepted some interesting truths:

1) Apparently puppies can never have enough treats.

2) If Sputnik stands to snatch the treat when I tell him, “Sit” he’s not really getting trained.  Just treated.  I have to watch his little Sputnik patootie and only if it stays on the floor, only when he shows he going to go wild for the reward does he get the treat.

I have to force myself to look away from the puppy-dog eyes and remember the goal is for him to be disciplined enough to sit without the treat… Not to do tricks for biscuits.

It struck me, we have to learn the same lesson.  How many times have we been so anxious for the reward, our behavior delayed the release of the gift?  How often have we wondered what was causing the delay, what was the lesson we seemed to be missing?

Expecting everything to happen because we are anxious for it, demanding what we want in the moment we want it, refusing to wait past our point of comfort in patience, convenient endurance are symptoms of immaturity and weakness.

Where is the power in that?  How are we supposed to maintain our sureness, peace and continue living in a way that lights the path for others when we’re drooling over the promise of a treat, grumpy because it’s delayed, or depressed because there’s no treat in sight?

If we are truly faithful, obedient, patient we will persevere and endure in spite of circumstance.  When we get that message, learn it fully and grow in maturity and strength…

We might casually notice those pesky situations where it seems like what we want is dragged out forever have magically stopped happening so frequently… Not that we’d care anymore.