Patience is well-known by the popular saying, “Patience is a virtue.” It involves tolerating delay by exercising self-control over the desire, and sometimes the impulse, of wanting what you want almost immediately.
The more important that self-control and forbearance become in order to be able to manage a situation, the clearer it is that patience is indeed a virtue.
For example, sometimes it is relatively easy to be patient, as when you hardly experience any internal tension or resistance at being delayed or having to adjust to an uncertain timeline, like waiting for dinner to finish cooking when you are hungry. But sometimes it can be a real struggle and a challenge, as when you must wait a long time for the arrival of something that you urgently need or when you must deal with the unpredictable and unpleasant behavior of a difficult person. It is during these latter kinds of situations that the true character of patience as a virtue is revealed.
Getting Personal
Can you think of an incident or situation in your life when by being patient you were able to reap an important benefit? How did being patient help you?
On the other hand, can you think of an incident or situation when being patient did not work well for you? What, if anything, did you learn from that situation?
“Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.” (Saadi, Persian poet, 13th century)
“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” (Arnold H. Glasow, American businessman)
How to develop patience. Click below:
**** Top of post image (Patience is a Virtue) by David Burke, from Dreamstime.com
