Chapter 4 Book Overview
Have you ever heard of the saying, “Patience is a virtue?” Have you ever thought about what that exactly means? Well, by de nition, patience means to hold on, to be tolerant or to be peaceful while you wait on an answer or an outcome. Virtue means an asset, bene t or an advantage. In other words, holding on and peacefully waiting for an answer is an advantage. Think about this carefully. Why could this be to your advantage? Well, for every action that you take in life, there is a reaction. The positive actions that you take will end in positive results and the negative actions will end in negative results. So it is important to take your time and think things through before you take an action that will negatively impact your life. Therefore, patience is a virtue.
If you had to evaluate yourself, would you say that you are a patient or an impatient person? Can you think of a time when you have not been able to control your temper? Can you remember why it occurred or what was said? You probably cannot remember it in great detail, right? A lot of times, you may not be having the best day and it doesn’t matter what is said but at that moment it seems bigger than it really is. Then once you clearly think about it the next day or week, you wonder why you were so angry. And sometimes, you may even have to go back and apologize because
it was not the other person’s fault. Sometimes you may even be justi ed for getting angry but you did not handle the situation properly so you still have to go back and make amends
to the person.
Do not feel bad if you have a temper problem or sometimes act as if you are impatient. Patience is not an overnight change or a quick ick of a light switch. Some people spend their whole lives learning to be more patient because it takes practice, positive thinking, resilience and the ability to be able to respond properly to any issue. Sometimes that is not easy especially when your emotions get involved or you feel passionate about a situation.
My father taught me at an early age that I could achieve anything in life and overcome any obstacles by practicing three words: patience, silence and consistency. With patience, you will think before you move, evaluate all of your options and make the right choice. Silence is equally as
important because sometimes revealing your goals too soon can hurt you. Unfortunately, there are some people around you that do not want you to succeed. And, if you give them too much information; they will use it against you or sabotage your plan. No one can deter you if they don’t know what you are doing, and by the time they nd out it will be too late to disrupt your progress. Sometimes it is better to show people in your actions rather than tell them. Consistency is that constant drive; it is the motivation that will propel you to move forward. It is the fuel that will run your machine and keep you on the path to your goals. With these three words, there is no problem or goal too great to overcome or achieve if you apply them to your everyday life.
