Level 1 – Never Ending Patience

The 16 Levels of Love – Part 2

The elevator opens and you get off on level one.  The first thing you see are these words, in big letters, “Love is Patient.”  At first glance you’re tempted to blow it off because you’ve heard this common phrase many times before.  That’s what “common”, familiar does; it will have you blow off something that should be taken quite seriously.  Love is patient, love is kind.  This phrase is plastered on wall decor, posters, images and paintings all over the place.  However, here on level one, you get to dig into its meaning.  This level is filled with rooms dedicated to pointing out what it means to have level-one love; patience.

Love is Patient.
To understand this phrase, one must know what the word patient means.
Webster’s describes patient as, at the mercy of another or a situation; enduring and persevering.

To love means to be “at the mercy of another.”  To be loved means you get to have someone at your mercy.  In today’s society, common behavior says you want others to be at your mercy forget being at the mercy of another.  How about that?  Most want or desire the opposite of the level one characteristic of love, which is patience.

Love is enduring.  When you love someone with the level-one characteristic of love, you endure.  You endure whatever the situation brings.  Oh my, in today’s “normal” society, we bail when the situation isn’t going the way we want it to.  Could it be that normal relationships today display level-one-love’s opposite?

I say I love you, but have very little patience with you.
Insert your name into this phrase.  <Your name> is patient.
Even after saying it, it’s hard to believe because 51% of the time or more, I am/we are not at the mercy of the one I say I love.  If this is you, you don’t have the level-one characteristic of love.  Let’s switch gears for a moment and list a few identifiers of patience, level-one love.

Patience Identifiers
What happens when you don’t get a response back as quickly as you desire?
If you’re like most you’re impatient when people don’t respond as quickly as you desire.  However, if you love with the level-one characteristic (patience), it matters not how quickly they get back to you.  You’re patient. If you’re the recipient of level-one love, then you should have someone in your life that is always patient with you and your shortcomings.  Let’s try another.

What do you do when your electronic devices are loading slowly?
Like most, you want to get a new device.  You become impatient with the one you have.  What happens when your relationship slows or stalls?  Do you become impatient and seek another?
What do you do when the fast food line is acting like the slow food line?
For some of us this becomes a cursing moment.

Your being impatient brings less tolerance. Are you impatient? Does your tolerance level decrease towards the one you say you love?

What do you do when you don’t see the results of losing weight when you think you should be seeing results?  In most instances we quit and give up.  What happens when you don’t see that significant other showing signs of improvement.  Are you going to quit, be impatient and give up?

Level-One’s Opposite – Impatience
Impatience is your way of showing how much you don’t love the one you say you love.

So you say you love me?
What happens when I’m not getting the point you want me to get?  You should be patient with me until I get it.  That’s love.
What happens when you’re running late and I’m the reason?  You shouldn’t let it ruin your day, level-one love says you’re patient.
What does it do to you when you have to put more effort and unexpected time into accomplishing what you need?  You should love being patient with me; I’m the one you “love”.
What does it do to you to have to repeat yourself for my sake?  I shouldn’t worry about you becoming impatient because level-one love is patient.
How do you react when you’re not getting your way in this relationship?  I can depend on you to be patient with me because that’s what level-one love does.

It’s hard to say “I love you” and at the same time I’m impatient with you.  I bet the recipient of your “I love you” doesn’t even believe those words. Remember, love is patient.

I know what you’re thinking and I thought the same.  Just because I’m not patient doesn’t mean I don’t love someone.  Well, there end is the problem, the deception. You’ve been fooled my friend into thinking that you love someone when in fact, you can’t even be patient with that someone. My friend, that is not love.  Love is patient.  When love is present, there’s patience.  When you stop loving someone, there’s impatience.

Question: what’s the one thought blocking you from accepting or giving level-one love, patience?
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