“Putting Up With’ is an expression we hear often. It amazes me the stuff people ‘put up with’.
You live with what you allow!!
I put up with his/her moods!
I’m putting up with my mother-in-law!!!!
I’m putting up with my broken washing machine.
I’m putting up with sleepless nights. (If you are up feeding baby, this is only a phase. They do grow out of it.)
The list goes on and on.
You can define putting up with in two words, long suffering.
I heard a man say that due to his marriage, his face was long and he was suffering!!
But that is not the correct definition.
To me, long suffering is bearing up with difficult people or situations, with good will and forbearance.
You can put up with something gracefully, or not!
In the economic climate of the now, there are things we may not want, but we are going to have to learn to make the adjustments.
There are people who can be difficult, (you may be married to one!!) but we have to with grace and make allowances for their bad behaviour.
Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in Africa for 27 years.
He did more than ‘put up with’ this and used his experience to bring a nation together.
Although he had every reason to be bitter and full of resentment, his words to us are,
“Do not react, respond.”
Life is so daily, but we can make the best of a bad situation by putting up with, gracefully.
Nan
