“Patience is the companion of wisdom.”- St. Augustine of Hippo

I do not like to wait. I tend to want to fix, find out, or know things instantly and this can cause nerves and unwanted feelings. I feel quite tense when waiting for a test grade back, a reply to a message, a decision on an application I put in, or improvement on something I have been working towards. But in reality, waiting and standing in the area of the “unknown” will occur many times in the future. Therefore, to minimize my impatience I need to accept and become comfortable with not always knowing everything instantly.

Timing is everything. Certain opportunities cannot be taken too early or too late because you might not be ready or the time has passed. For example, when pursuing a relationship asking the other person out too early can ruin the potential and waiting too long can cause the other person to think you are not interested. The act of waiting requires a lot of practice to perfect. Personally, I have made progress but it is a process that will take some time. I just get so excited about certain things that it seems impossible to wait. But, I have realized ‘jumping the gun’ can ruin perfect opportunities. Good things take time; I would rather wait longer to have a better, more genuine experience than act when the timing is not right and ruin a perfect opportunity. Coming to this realization has helped me accept that every good thing will not come as quickly as I would like it to.

Another lesson pertaining to patience I have learned is to be patient with yourself. Especially with my studies, I expect much out of myself. I study so much and when I do not understand a topic instantly, I can get quite stressed. Throughout the semester, I came to the realization that the difficult nature of certain classes will push me to become a better student. Growing intellectually, physically, and spiritually takes a lot of time; therefore, when I do not understand a topic, instead of stressing out, I take the appropriate steps to understand the material better. Secondly, developing healthy habits and the body I would like also takes time. No one can lose a certain amount of weight instantly; I learned to be patient with myself and notice the progress I have made in the time that has passed. No one is perfect and accepting my flaws has helped me take the steps to accept myself: physically, intellectually, and spiritually. Again, good things take time. Accepting that things will not always come my way when I would like them to has helped me become a more patient person.