Sterling Terrell

Random Thoughts – 33 (Part 2, Apparently)

1. Central bankers make me laugh.

2. Oil companies should be diversified (all companies, really).

3. Sitting behind a desk does not equal productivity. And, not sitting behind a desk does not equate to being non-productive. Get it out of your head.

4. “I once heard somebody say that God had closed a door on an opportunity they had hoped for. But I’ve always wondered if, when we want to do something that we know is right and good, God places that desire deep in our hearts because He wants it for us and it honors Him. Maybe there are times when we think a door has been closed and, instead of misinterpreting the circumstances, God wants us to kick it down. Or perhaps just sit outside of it long enough until somebody tells us we can come in.”

— Bob Goff, Love Does (Amazon)

5. Chocolate sheet-cake with vanilla ice-cream should not be easily dismissed.

You ever struggle with that?

I suffer from it most trading and sitting in traffic.

Trading, I think, is about the most emotionally intense thing you can do on a day to day basis (being a soldier and doctor excluded, of course).

Most are unable to set the greed and fear aside and just trade – follow their rules – follow their system – whatever.

My advice to deal with emotions in trading is simple: Automate it.

But I digress.

On patience, sitting in traffic is another story for me.

So, my church delivers apple pies to recent visitors once a month.

“Here is a warm pie. Thanks for coming.” That’s it.

So the whole family is out a few Wednesday’s ago delivering a few pies, and suddenly we are sitting in the car at a standstill.

Just. Sitting. In. Traffic.

You know the emotions that you go through while not moving after a while.

2 minutes: “There better be a fender-bender or something, this is ridiculous.”
5 minutes: “What is going on?! There better be a wreck or something up here!”
10 minutes: “Oh man. I hope nobody is hurt.”

Well, for some reason, I was past all that.

For some reason, I was livid.

Rightly, my wife was rolling her eyes at me.

We finally made our way forward and saw that a broken-down car was blocking all of the traffic down to one lane.

As we approached the right side, we could see inside the car.

It was a young woman behind the wheel, maybe 19 or 20 years old, with a baby in a car-seat in the back.

The baby was screaming and crying and tears streamed down the woman’s face.

Good grief I felt bad as my stomach dropped.

I immediately just wanted to offer her a ride and my cell phone to use – and I wanted to give her a hug.

If another family had not already stopped to help, I would have.

More than anything, I felt bad about my attitude and lack of patience.

I was not bearing fruit, but I am nevertheless thankful for every opportunity that I get to practice patience.

All I know is this: If you pray for patience, it is only a matter of time before you get stuck in traffic.

Be ready.

And be thankful for the practice.

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