Anticipation

an·tic·i·pa·tion

   [an-tis-uh-pey-shuhn]  Show IPA

–noun

1.

the act of anticipating or the state of being anticipated.

2.

realization in advance; foretaste.

3.

expectation or hope.

4.

previous notion; slight previous impression.

5.

intuition, foreknowledge, or prescience.

So once again we begin with the definition from dictionary.com.

I feel the need to follow my previous blog about patience with one on anticipation. Though these two words are similar they are also very different. I freely admitted I am an impatient person. A fact many of you played upon with your little comments *ahem* @docnolz and @darkwulfe. But that's ok, I expected it, anticipated it actually, and you did not let me down.

Now, anticipation is a fun little bugger. This does add in to my impatience, I suppose, as if I am impatient about something is is usually because of the anticipation. This anticipation could be because of something I am excited about or because of something I am dreading. Just the word, "anticipation" to me is fun, but then I do tend to enjoy words. I know, I'm weird, I freely admit that, as well.

Let's see there's the anticipation of a much planned meeting or vacation. The unknowing of how it will go, what you will do, what you will see. The excitement that comes from that sort of anticipation can be enormously fun.

Then there's the flip side of anticipation. The anticipating what will be an unpleasant event, a dentist appointment (not that I know ANYTHING about that) a break up, a reprimand. I am the type of person that will make any situation out to be so much worse in my mind; the anticipation kills me. I will play it out in my mind over and over and will usually find I am pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as bad as I imagined. 

Speaking of "imagined". It is the imagination that makes anticipation so exciting or dreadful. If I am anticipating some event I can assure you I have played it out in my mind so many times and down to the finite detail. That is when I get impatient, if I have imagined something for so long that I have played it out in my head on a constant loop, then I am ready to experience the actual event to see if it meets my expectations. Hopefully finding that if it was a pleasant event it was more than I anticipated and if it is an unpleasant one then it was not nearly as bad as I imagined.

Ok, so even I am feeling this post has gone on far to long. I am "anxious" (wait, there's another word...) to see what you think and am am anticipating nothing but friendly comments. I will try to be patient while I wait and imagine...

Patience

pa·tience

 

–noun

1.

the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper,irritation, or the like.

2.

an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay: to have patience with a slow learner.

3.

quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence:to work with patience.

4.

Cards (chiefly British). solitaire (def. 1).

5.

Also called patience dock. a European dock, Rumex patientia, of the buckwheat family, whose leaves are often used as a vegetable.

6.

Obsolete. leave; permission; sufference.

The above definition is from Dictionary.com. Those of you that know me already know "patience" is not a word in my vocabulary. I know the whole "patience is a virtue" thing. Uh-huh. Well, somehow I lost out on this virtue.

I think I have had some big lessons in patience, however. First of all I have had 3 children. Talk about having to be patient! Waiting 20 weeks or so to find out if we were having a girl or a boy? Wow, I thought I'd go crazy! What's that? Some people wait until they have the baby to find out the gender? Preposterous. Insane, I say! Modern technology is a wonderful thing, take advantage of it. Then, I had to wait another 19 or 20 weeks to hold my little angel? Wow, this patience thing is really tough.

Then, of course, there is Abby's alopecia. Talk about a real life lesson in patience. First of all she lost her hair, then we had to wait (do you know how slowly hair grows??) to see if it was going to come back. Repeat. Repeat. That is the epitome of patience.

But of course there is just the average day to day patience. This is where I really struggle. If I want something, want to do something, want to go somewhere I want to do it now. Don't get me wrong, however, I love, love, love having something to look forward to. I like the anticipation. But, anticipation is very different from patience. Yes, it is!

Going back to my childhood anyone that has ever known me can tell you I just don't know how to be patient. If I want an answer, I want it now. If I know something is looming I want to get it over with-just rip the bandage so to speak.  If I am wanting to go somewhere, see someone or whatever, I want to do it now. My Mom says I fit the old saying, "I want it all, I want it NOW and I want tomorrow off!"

So, there you have it one of my flaws my flaw. I somehow missed out on the patience gene. But I make up for it by being excited, passionate and fun. I think it's a pretty fair trade off. Now, what are you waiting for, hurry up and leave me a comment!

Seriously, I'm getting impatient here...