Friday 10th August - The Skill of Waiting Patiently



http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/possess



Yesterday I spent hours and hours just waiting. Literally. It was a "clinic day", which means going to London for a routine check up, and also the various tests to do with the drug trial I am in. The clinic visit usually takes a longish time, and involves a lot of sitting around waiting. Yesterday was no exception, so I wasn't unduly surprised that, having arrived at 9am in order to get the drug trial tests and consultations completed before the actual clinic appointment at 10:45, it was still well after 1pm before I left the hospital.

There we were, all facing each other, seated in two rows of uncomfortable chairs along the basement corridor between the consulting rooms. We were all in a reasonably patient, resigned frame of mind. Every so often a door would open, and a name be called, and a little sigh escape from those of us left to wait a little longer. Actually, to wait a lot longer. No-one complained. We could all see that the consultants and staff were working as fast as they could, and at the same time, giving each of us as much time as we needed.

After all, we were only there for a morning. The hospital staff would be facing the same long queues of people day after day after day.

I wouldn't have commented any of this at all, if I hadn't googled the phrase "possess yourself in patience" to check I had remembered it correctly. It is the eighth of nine definitions of "possess"; what made me smile were the words in green!