Impatiens vs Beech
Impatiens is irritated by how slowly things move. Beech is irritated by how other people are. One is about speed, the other about habits.
Beech
Intolerance, finding other people's habits and mistakes genuinely irritating
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Why they get muddled
Both are irritable, both are usually quick and capable, and both would rather the world ran their way. Neither is unkind, and both tend to be a little embarrassed about it afterwards.
The differences
What sets you off
Impatiens
Slowness. Lines, traffic, somebody taking too long to reach the point.
Beech
Habits and mistakes. Chewing, tapping, the wrong way of doing something.
How long it lasts
Impatiens
Flares fast, passes fast. You are over it before they are.
Beech
Sits there. It builds up rather than blowing over.
What you would rather do
Impatiens
The task yourself, faster, alone.
Beech
Correct it, out loud or in your head.
Who it is about
Impatiens
Anything in the way, including objects and situations.
Beech
People, specifically.
Which one to pick
Choose Impatiens if
- You finish other people's sentences
- Lines and slow traffic get to you out of all proportion
- You would rather do it yourself than wait for somebody to be shown how
Choose Beech if
- Small habits in other people irritate you out of all proportion
- You correct things, out loud or in your head
- You find yourself judging strangers on very little
What if both sound right?
Quick people who are also particular will recognize both, and there is nothing odd about needing the pair. Impatiens is one of the five in the traditional crisis formula, so it is easy to come by either way.
Common questions
What if I am irritable but it is neither of these?
Look at Holly if the feeling is hotter and aimed at a person, or Vervain if you are wound up about a cause rather than annoyed by anybody. If the worry is about losing your temper rather than having one, that is Cherry Plum.
Does Impatiens make you slower?
That is not how the tradition describes it. The quickness is treated as a real quality worth keeping. What is meant to ease is the friction, so you stay fast without minding that the world is not.
Keep narrowing
The pairs closest to this one, if neither of these two turns out to be it.
HollyvsBeech
Holly burns and Beech grates. If there is a person and a feeling with heat in it, that is Holly. If it is everybody and everything and it never quite reaches anger, that is Beech.
Cherry PlumvsImpatiens
Impatiens snaps. Cherry Plum is afraid of what it might do. If the problem is the temper itself, that is Impatiens. If the problem is that you no longer trust yourself to hold it, that is Cherry Plum.
ImpatiensvsVervain
Impatiens wants it done. Vervain wants you to agree. One is irritated by pace and the other is driven by a cause, and they wind down in completely different ways.
BeechvsVine
Beech criticizes and Vine decides. If you notice everything and say nothing, that is Beech. If you notice everything and reorganize it, that is Vine.
Still not sure?
Read both profiles in full, or start from the feeling and let the quiz narrow it for you.