"A waiting person is a patient person." - Henri J.M. Nouwen

Argh! Have you ever felt impatient at a red light, or irritated at the end of a long line for your prescription at the pharmacy? You're not alone.

Patience can feel scarce when you don't have control over a situation. It can feel like endometriosis interrupted your life and brought a slew of frustrations at the worst moments. Finding a tiny bit of control can bring us patience later.

Control might look like self-care: a walk around the block, getting up early for 15 minutes of alone time, spending time each week encouraging others who have endometriosis or starting a gratitude journal. Don't let anyone (including yourself!) make you feel guilty for taking care of yourself.

Here are some conversations about patience on MyEndometriosisTeam:

• "With sheer determination and sometimes the odds against, lots of practice and patience, take steps, never worry about not getting there. What is meant to be for you won't go by you. When times are hard try not to worry, worrying just makes things more difficult and have personal experience on this. Little steps always, even with health care needs."

• "I've been on the natural path for about 3 years now. Using pain meds as needed and not like every day. This took time and patience. Some months are okay, but at least I'm not in OMG pain most of the time. I look back on how much my body's changed, it's amazing how much I've grown."

• "Self-care is so, so necessary. Life has been really tough lately but a beautiful friend of mine took me away for the day. Feeling so blessed! Pain is ever present but nothing is going to get onto of me today. Hope all of you are being kind to yourselves, keep fighting beautiful endo sisters!"

Have you found ways to take back control and practice patience? What do you do to be more open to self-care? Share your insights in the comments below or directly on MyEndometriosisTeam.com.