How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras understand patience? It’s probably harder now to be patient than at any other time in history. Nevertheless, patience remains a valuable tool in life. We don’t always get instant gratification, and some of the best things in life require years of hard work and waiting.

Fortunately, patience is a virtue that can be cultivated and nurtured. If you’re waiting in a doctor’s consulting room and the only thing you can concentrate on is the ticking clock, good luck trying to be patient. If, however, you can read a book or do a crossword puzzle, time will fly by (or at least creep less slowly). If you’ve nothing to do while you’re waiting, just try to appreciate the fact that you have nothing to do. In a fast-paced world, opportunities to do nothing are rare and should be cherished.

Life is constantly trying to teach me patience – waiting for the kettle to boil, the robot to change, and my teenager to learn that he doesn’t know everything there is to know about life already.

Friends, the elderly, love and relationships, careers, making money, paying debts, starting a family, teaching someone, etc. always require patience and endurance. If you give up too quickly, you may never receive what you really want. Patience is the preparation of a task, the doing and completing of all the details, the waiting and follow through, and then waiting some more. It is doing all the tedious, boring and overly complicated things that will make something go smoothly and, if necessary, repeating them every day.

The most patient people usually make the wisest choices in life. Someone who is patient can work with others, and focus on practical solutions to problems. World leaders, such as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi, cultivated this trait.

You also need to be patient with yourself in allowing yourself to develop into the person you want to be, and let yourself be what you really want to become.

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