We’ve all been there—there are days when you’re feeling harassed, in a hurry, or simply just plain late, and for some reason, the world seems to want to work against you by moving slower than usual. But for some people, these days aren’t just days, but it’s all the time—you’re always feeling harassed, always feeling impatient, and people are just always in your way. Here are some signs that impatience isn’t something you feel occasionally, but part of who you are as a person:
Sign 1: You’d rather take the long way than the short way, if the short way requires you to wait.
Moving is so much better than just sitting and standing in one place, waiting, because at least it feels like you’re actually doing something.
Sign 2: Line-ups anywhere, everywhere make you want to rip your hair out.
Christmas shopping and sales in the mall give you more frustration than anything. And don’t even get me started on the Starbucks line-ups in the mornings—you’d do just about anything to skip those. (Except waking up early to brew your own coffee. Now that’s something ain’t nobody got time for.)
Sign 3: You resist the urge to shove aside people taking their sweet time walking in front of you when you’re in a hurry to get somewhere.
You don’t have time to breathe in the fresh air and smell the roses; you’ve got somewhere to be and you had to be there—let’s see—five minutes ago.
Sign 4: People driving under the speed limit in the fast lane is enough to trigger your road rage.
Come on, people. It’s called the “fast lane” for a reason.
Sign 5: You display slight psychopathic tendencies during stressful moods.
And you feel these tendencies fade away right away after you’re in a good spot in your schedule. Suddenly, you don’t feel like throwing something at the receptionist anymore.
Sign 6: You’ve long mastered the art of appearing normal and fine when on the inside you’re close to exploding.
Those yoga and meditation classes must’ve paid off—not to mention those deep breathing exercises and those visualizations of calmness and the sea. Deep breaths, now. Deep. Breaths.
Sign 7: You’ve been told to “calm down” or “take a chill pill” by people around you (including yourself).
You do sometimes think you’re overreacting, and should be nicer and more considerate but then whoops—here we go, something triggers you and sets you off once again.
No?
… Okay, maybe it’s just me then.