Patience is a virtue as it is often said, but we all know it can sometimes be difficult to come by. You on a queue and the people ahead of you seem to be taking forever, or you’re stuck in traffic for like hours and your mind just starts racing. You wish things would just move faster. In fact, if you could make it happen, you would have done it. You feel frustrated and anxious and sometimes you even lose your cool.
What all this means is that we have simply lost our patience. Sometimes even our home life can become difficult to handle patiently. The kids are always demanding attention and your partner also seeks your attention about one thing or another. How would you answer to all these which are must for you? Your patience with everyone, even your loved ones, begins to wear thin.
For Mary Okechukwu, a mother of five boys, says “when you forget the power of patience and you react to situations looking for the next quick solution, you work against nature and in the end get pushed back further. Patience is greater than the ocean’s span; and most importantly patience is what it takes to enjoy the challenges of life. If you want to be successful and achieve your goals you have to practice a certain amount of patience. When you’re impatient you only get things to slow down towards achieving your goals or end up on the wrong track.”
Unfortunately, in today’s society we want instant satisfaction. We want something that will fix everything right away. Success in life doesn’t happen overnight. Creating a business and making it a success requires patience. Having impatience in business is like inviting a disaster. Relationships take time to build and improve. Having impatience in a relationship is a sure way to end it. Finding the right job requires patience and effort, having impatience in a job search is a sure way to get rejected.
Most women have this problem of impatience in their matrimonial homes, they feel that whatever the husband does is not enough and they easily run out of patience and start attacking their husbands, but they forget that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Remind yourself that things take time.
“People who are impatient are people who insist on getting things done now and don’t like to waste time. However, some things just can’t be rushed. Chances are there were instances when your impatience paid off, but I must say it doesn’t most times,” says Rakiya Yasin, a civil servant.
Anything good in life takes time and dedication. And if you’re impatient, you’re most likely to give up on relationships, goals, and other things that are important to you. Good things may not always come to those who wait, but most good things that do come don’t come easy.
You have to expect the unexpected. Yes, you have plans, but things don’t always work out as planned. Accept the twist and turns in life gracefully. Keep your expectations realistic. This applies not only to circumstances, but also the behaviour of those around you. If you find yourself blowing up over your child or your spouse accidentally spilling a drink, then you’re not in touch with the fact that people aren’t perfect. Even if the occasion is not an isolated incident but is instead caused by their repeated neglect and carelessness, losing your patience isn’t going to make it any better.
“Patience is a state of endurance during a time of difficulty. This I would describe as exercising restraint, holding steadfast and exhibiting forbearance when life is less than comfortable. It is the one virtue that allows a person to feel good, to be calm, and to live successfully no matter the circumstance.” Says Hajiya Aisha Bashir, Director with a federal organisation.
The power that we’re missing is called patience. Real patience is not about waiting for one’s expectations to be fulfilled. This is the kind of patience that we have now, and as we will see, it is necessarily filled with impatience; so, it is not so much that we are actually patient, as it is that we are hanging around, impatiently, waiting for that moment to get what we have hoped for.
Patience leads to a healthier, more successful lifestyle. People with patience have an easier time creating lasting relationships, more successful marriages, and generally have a better outlook on life. Not to mention the benefits of lower blood pressure, an abundance of empathy, and enabling you to live more harmoniously with those around you. If you want balance and harmony, if you want success and happiness, you have to do all that you can and then utilize the power of patience.