MONGOLIA
have patience.

Mark and I were so grateful for the hospitality of our hosts. But six people living in one tiny yurt was overwhelming. Even finding a little space to breathe was a task—not to mention trying to sleep, eat, train, or maintain hygiene.  As the days passed we became more and more annoyed with each other and our surroundings. We began to snap and whine at any inconvenience. The amazing thing was, Mark and I were only visiting a cramped yurt for a couple days, while our host Strong, his wife, and their two kids lived there. During our entire visit they never shared a cross word, not even once.

Our patience is tried the most with those closest to us, but it is these relationships that are the most important. Strong shared with me that small things don't matter--and everything is a small thing. He taught me to always have patience with my loved ones unconditionally, no matter the circumstance. My grandfather once told me that the one thing he regretted most in his 90 years on this earth was ever sharing a cross word with his wife. He had a hard time finishing the sentence that he can never take any of it back. A poem that hangs in his doorway says it all:

Its easy enough to be pleasant
when life flows by like a song
but the one for me is the one who'll smile
when everything goes dead wrong.
For the test of the heart is trouble
and that always comes with the years, but
the smile that is worth all the praises of the
earth is the smile that shines through tears.