“Patience is a virtue”, is something that I have always been told, probably because I am not a patient person by nature. I can be very patient with animals and have been known to work with my dogs for months to perfect some agility skill or obedience move. Still, I am notoriously impatient when it comes to getting things done, tolerating other people, and judging myself.
Patience is something that I have worked on all of my life and continue to work through today. I have learned how to be more patient by raising children, parenting many pets, and working as a leader in my practice, but I still struggle at times with the concept that I need to be patient.
This pandemic has been a test of patience on many levels. Fifteen days of lockdown to slow the spread has morphed into almost two years of learning to live with the virus. The increased demand placed on veterinarians and lack of adequate staff has also been challenging to navigate. So patience development is something that I think we can all benefit from right now.
I love to be active and try new things, so I became super bored and restless during the lockdown. I am not one for sitting still and staying home. It was a real challenge for me. One of the few places that I could go was the open-air gardening store. It was outside, under a roof, and they had all varieties of plants and gardening supplies. It was the perfect place to get out of the house safely without a lot of close human interaction. During one of those trips, to buy some flowers for the garden, I spotted some orchid plants and thought of my sad dying plants at home. I have purchased a few Phalaenopsis orchids at the various grocery stores over the years, but once the blooms fell off, I could never keep them alive and well for long. The pandemic gave me the gift of time, so I decided to use my spare time to learn how to take care of these unique plants and see if I could muster up the patience to get them to thrive and bloom.
So I bought a healthy, beautiful orchid to bring home to my dying group as an example of what I wanted them to do. Then I spent hours watching YouTube videos about repotting and caring for Phalaenopsis orchids, and my new lesson in patience began.
In their native habitats, Phalaenopsis orchids grow in humid climates where the temperature remains quite warm most of the year. The plants grow on shady tree branches. They take a long time to bloom, as I found out patiently waiting as their long flower spike slowly turned into buds and then flowers. It takes months for them to bloom, but the reward is beautiful flowers that last for 3-4 months. They may not bloom again for another year, but they will bloom sooner if you make them very happy. Orchid Care is the perfect hobby to teach someone like me more patience.
It is now 2021, and I have four orchids that are thriving. I keep them in my bedroom window, and I give them time outside on my deck when the weather is warm and humid. They like being outside in the summer and appear healthy and happy. I am on the third cycle of blooming, and I have one rock star plant blooming for the second time since I started caring for them properly. The others are testing my patience by refusing to bloom, but the leaves and roots are looking good, so I know that if I remain patient, they will reward me with some beautiful flowers soon.
If you are a person that tends to be impatient, take up a hobby like orchids to help you practice this fantastic skill. It will bleed over into your working life, your family life, and your friends will notice that you are becoming much more patient.
Dr. Julie Cappel
“Patience is not simply the ability to wait - it's how we behave while we're waiting.” - Joyce Meyer
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