It was a hot Saturday afternoon with the Mediterranean sun doing a harsh number on my skin and my mind was seeking instant refuge in something cold or sweet. It was at this junction of decision that the smell of traditional Italian pizza gently filtered into my nose. It was as if my prayer had been answered. “Hmmn, that pizza smells so good; can we stop and have a slice? I asked my children. My eldest son looked at me in disbelief. “Control mommy, control” he whispered into my ears. Although he was right on the money with the emphasis he placed on the word “control”, I was too irritable to pay attention. Instead, I bullied him into immediate silence by letting him know that “this hungry mom was an angry mom that could change her mind about taking him shopping.”
A few hours before, we unanimously decided to eat pizza for dinner. We were visiting Rome, Italy, and planned to save our appetite for a particular traditional Italian pizza our family friends raved about. Unfortunately, what I was seeing and smelling at this point in time, tenaciously latched on to my sense of smell and taste. Waiting a few more hours for dinner seemed like eternity. I did not know when I flung our plans for the evening to the wind of nonchalance and bowed to the temptation of the beautifully garnished pizza before me.
I ordered and dived into the pizza as soon as it was laid before me. After five minutes of savoring unnecessary grease that cemented the wall of greed in me, I arrived at the sad realization that there was nothing to write home about the pizza. I had blown it big time! Instant gratification turned to a prickly session of instant regret that held me captive for the rest of the day.
If only I had exercised the patience or even listened to my son, I would not have found myself wallowing in a pit plagued by guilt and shame. Why is self control hard to control by ourselves?
How many times in our lives have we put the chariot before the horse in the name of impatience? How many times have we taken back into our hands the situation we gave to God some minutes before? How many times has false evidence appeared so real in our eyes that we prematurely and ignorantly sacrificed our blessings on an altar of self-gratification? How many times have we forsaken others in the name of pleasing me, myself and I? There is no doubt that patience is the greatest virtue and if we can master it in good and bad times, then, self-control will become an automatic part of our daily lives.
Let us ask our dear Father, to forgive us for all the times we lacked the patience to believe His promises. Let us ask Him for the grace to exercise control at all times, in Jesus’ name.
Until next time, I pray patience and self-control reigns seamlessly in our lives.
May Oyairo is the Publisher of MannaXPRESS.
