A Virtue Greater Than Patience

Whoever suggested that patience was a virtue was severely misinformed. It is certainly NOT a virtue. It is a challenge, a mounumentally enormous challenge that we, in our new-age fast-paced society, have grand difficulty in understanding, let alone conquering.

 

The quarter-life crisis can speak for itself here - those of us at the age of 26 to 30 want everything and we want it now! And why shouldn't we? We have the education, motivation and brain power to get there - we have been exposed to travel, tertiary studies and a plethora of mind expanding fixations (Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, Xbox, Amazon, Kindle) allowing us to think above and beyond the dimensions of 1980's ambitions. We now have the power to become anything we want, and we know it.

 

So I need to challenge this virtue called patience, ask it to step aside and replace it with something I like to call Trust. This again is one of those words that we use, abuse and misuse all the time for fear of sounding too emotional, personal or out of line.

 

For many women, 'I love you' actually means 'I trust that you are never going to cheat on me or break my heart'. For many men, 'Just trust me', means I really do want to be with you and if you keep believing that I am going to run away with the next hot blonde that walks into this bar then I might just have to leave you.

 

The connotation of trust that aligns itself most perfectly with my lack of patience is Trust in the Process. When I first heard this, I thought it was a piece of esoteric enlightenment that someone had come up with in order to make us all feel better, however the more I thought about it, the more I realised how true this was and how it had actually worked in my favour throughout my life.

 

SET THE INTENTION AND LET IT HAPPEN.

 

That is the best way I can describe the feeling of trust in this context. Rather than obsessing over something, wishing, hoping, praying every day that it is going to happen, strategically placing reminders everywhere to visualise and meditate on what you want, just let it go. Decide on what you want and then trust in the process of your life that whatever is meant to come to you will come when the time is right. Not only will this allow the universe to work its magic without the constant interference of your thoughts, it will also take a hell of a lot of pressure off your shoulders. Trust that the process of your life will unfold as it is supposed to, whether you like it or not:

 

• If he/she breaks up with you, stop trying to fight it, it's just not meant to be!
• If the job interview goes badly, suck it up, there will be something better around the corner.
• If she really won't forgive you, another friend will take her place who will love you even more.
• If you don't have the money, sorry to say but it is just not your time for a flat screen TV!

Stay trusting and you never know, patience might eventually become a virtue!