Shankar Vedantam

But then when we come home, we don't extend the same grace to the people in our personal lives.

Why do you think this is?

So Lindsay's comment also reminds me of a second type of patients that you talk about, and this is the patients required to deal with mundane problems, so chores and traffic jams and lost phones.

And I'm wondering whether these moments become especially tedious because of the sheer number of them that we have to deal with on a daily basis?

I think that definitely would be the case.

You also highlight a third type of patients.

It has to do with setbacks that we face at work, in our relationships, or with our health.

A listener named Vic wrote in with this note, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2019.

Since then, I've seen myself become a shadow of what I used to be.

I was approaching a black belt in the martial art I loved.

I used to bike 20 miles on a whim.

I had an extensive vocabulary.

These days, I have tremors on my right side, need to think of every step I take.

I also have balance issues.

Vic has a question for you, Sarah.

I consider myself to be a very patient person.

Is it possible to become even more patient than you were before?

And what recommendations do you have for those who go through a drastic, uninvited change?

What would you say, Sarah?

Hmm.