Here in southwestern Ontario, we’ve had a couple of recent cold snaps – after springlike weather started to feel normal, we were reintroduced to snow, cold wind and even some freezing sleet. In fact, this morning I heard that some parts of the GTA might see snow this weekend – and this weekend is practically going to be May!

This makes so many of us irritated or even downright furious . . . which, now that I think about it, is kind of funny. As someone who sometimes needs 4 alarms to get out of bed, how dare I be mad at nature for not flawlessly transitioning from winter into spring in the blink of an eye?

Full disclosure: one of the lessons I’m trying to learn lately is that of patience and compassion. This applies both to other people and to myself, because I realize that being so short on patience with other people and being so short on patience with myself are two sides of the same coin. Sadly, I’ve noticed that I’m great at maintaining high standards . . . let’s be honest, it’s a habit that’s led me to accomplish most of the things I’m proud of in my life . . . but I really want to get better at being understanding too, the kind of person who you’d feel okay coming to and saying “I made a mistake and I don’t know what to do” because you’re pretty sure I wouldn’t just say “Well, what’d you make such a dumb mistake for??”

I’m good at maintaining patience with children (so far; I know the real test will come when I’m a parent or similarly invested and exhausted) . . . not nearly as good at being compassionate toward teenagers and adults . . . good at keeping my cool with employees who I train, but only to a point. And I fear that some of the people I love the most are also those for whom I don’t show nearly enough compassion . . . which does worry me somewhat about my temperament as a parent, a spouse, an older creative professional, etc. I really wish this were something I could just learn and be done with learning, instead of something I seem to fail at continually.

But no matter how many tries it takes, spring always comes. And for an entire season to turn over requires countless miracles; so I continue to remind myself that my task of becoming more compassionate is far from impossible.

And maybe, like summer, I’ll appreciate it even more after all of these false starts and setbacks . . . right?