Patience

This one is definitely NOT one of my virtues! It is one of the things I work most on understanding and on accepting. However, it is a virtue that can help me and you in life during difficult times.

Being patience implies letting things go and flow their own pace. It requires to be tolerant in situations that are stressing. It implies that we need to have the capacity to wait and stay calm.

I am a person that likes to plan and organize every aspect of my life, so being patience is not something I am good at. I hate waiting for someone else’s response to a matter I consider to be important. I hate to wait on situations to get resolved. I hate to wait on people to react and take actions in their own life! Sometimes I can’t control my reactions in stressful situations, and I burst out expressing my discomfort. However, I have learned that being patient is a necessary virtue because good things require time and great relationships are built with time and patience, with understanding. Think about it, everything of value in life takes time. For instance, it takes 9 months to give birth. It takes about a year to be able to walk. It takes two to four years to be able to talk. Going through school and learning the basics takes 13 years of our childhood. The Undergraduate Degree takes at least four years to acquire and so forth. Doctors had to have patience and resilience in order to become the professionals they are today. Good things take time and that requires patience.

I believe that life usually gives us multiple experiences in our areas of weakness in order for us to grow and improve in those areas. I have come to terms with this word. I have decided that instead of focusing on the desperation that is behind being patience, I will instead think of the value of the situation and the lessons that present during the journey. As a mother I cannot pretend to have a successful adult in two years… I need to be patient and teach my children what they need in order to learn and grow every step of their way and through every stage of their lives. I cannot expect them to know everything and do things perfectly on their first attempt. That is not how life works and that is not a realistic expectation. When I accept that valuable things take time to acquire, it changes my approach and my reactions… I become more patient and therefore enjoy the process.

It is difficult for me to understand someone else’s patience in certain situations because I immediately think things should be done a specific way or the person should act a specific way… but I cannot control other people’s reactions or process. If I really care for someone, I need to respect their process and accept how they handle things. Giving advise is a good thing but getting upset because the person doesn’t follow through with the advice is another.

Time takes care of everything. Growth requires time. Healing requires time. Forgiveness requires time. Learning requires time. Time equals patience. Without patience we will be rushing ourselves into life and into experiences without really learning and absorbing what is necessary for us to grow as individuals. Therefore, even when it is difficult try your best to be patience. Maybe life is asking you to slow down to learn something or see something you are missing because you are in such a hurry.