“He that can have Patience, can have what he will.” – Benjamin Franklin

I read somewhere that Ben Franklin invented bifocal glasses when he was 78 years old. That was a patient man right there. Patience is a lost virtue. The obsession with getting things easily and conveniently have taken precedence. Because of this, people have spent a lot of time, energy and money on things they do not need, barely will use, and that have not contributed to their quality of life. Mastery at most things requires a lot of patience. I recommend the book, Mastery by George Leonard and you will know what I mean. Most of the time spent doing something will require a ton of patience, not just to get good but to become a master. Many people simply don’t have the patience to get to mastery. Patience is an absolute requirement to live to your full potential.

If you aren’t exactly where you want to be in your life, just be patient and it will come as long as you are taking action. Patience is not passively waiting around for something to happen, that’s laziness. Patience is working your way through something even if its difficult, and its slow and you feel like you aren’t making any progress. Remember Mr. Miyagi telling the Karate Kid to do all that “wax on, wax off” stuff? Patience. Besides, what’s the rush? 😛 Life isn’t a race to the finish line, whether you are on the planet for 1 more day or for 100 more years. Have faith in the journey and in the direction you have chosen and let the universe do its thing. Something to remember, the universe doesn’t make mistakes. Got it?

Have patience with other people whose opinions differ from your own. Have patience with children, and with your family and friends and with your lover. Have patience with that slow person walking in front of you, but by far the most important person to have patience with is yourself. If you have a fit of road rage and feel silly afterward, be patient with yourself. Learn from the experiences that make you feel silly, its ok, laugh it off if you can. Don’t beat yourself up over not being able to accomplish certain goals you may have set for yourself, just keep at it. Without patience, there is no hope, no faith, no dreams that can come true. Have patience, it’s good for you.

“If I have made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent.”
Sir Isaac Newton

we live in a magic pill society. media has a way of spamming us with empty promises and quick fixes.  just look at the weight loss industry as a perfect example.  diet pills, machines that vibrate while you watch tv, diets that claim you can eat anything you want, magazines claiming washboard abs in 3 weeks with only 10 minutes of exercise a day.  sadly, patience and persistence have faded, and laziness and avoidance of pain have taken over.  convenience and consumerism have brainwashed us.  it is not like this in other places (although these habits are influencing the rest of the world a little bit at a time).

the problem with instant gratification is it is fleeting.  temporary highs, followed by the next instant gratification fix.  magic bullets don’t exist.  you’ll be wasting lots of time, energy, and money trying to find them (that’s what advertisers want, your money).  after awhile, you may just end up giving up altogether after the 15th diet.

the key is patience.  something society has forgotten about a long time ago.  can you delay instant gratification?  its not easy, especially considering we are programmed to do otherwise.  our friends do it, our family does it, our coworkers do it, our fellow consumers do it, and its plastered all over the internet and tv.  man, we sure got our work cut out for us. however, in order to grow, patience is an absolute must.  most of the time we spend on the plateau.  its rarely grandiose and epic when breakthroughs happen, it usually comes through patience and things slowllly start to click and trickle in.  don’t get it?  patience, my friend.  it will come 😉