The Character of Patience

Character Leadership - The Character of Patience

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.” - unknown

Definition:   The capacity to tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without becoming angry or up set.

Impatience, Annoyance and Intolerance, are the opposites of Patience. These negative traits will mould us into a cold hearted indifferent person that worries and harbor fear about almost anything. We will become very intolerable with people who cannot catch up with us or live by our standards. We will constantly complain about the slightest things about anything that does not go our ways.

Patience is an essential aspect toward maturity and growth as a person, yet it is not an easy character trait to have. We are prone to not like to wait, especially in our fast paced, and fast food society. Without Patience, we cannot be used effectively in the lives of others, as they will seem repugnant to us, and we will be callous and unsympathetic towards them. Patience will allow us to manage anger and problems, and to wait for the right timing. Patience will allow us to forgive. Patience is hanging on to what is good. Patience will allow us to endure and go on, even when we do not feel like it. It will see the hope that is ahead, when the clouds of our lives and experiences block its view from our sight. When we are impatient, we will miss a lot in life, especially in our relationships.

Reflection:

Ask yourself; “What are the issues in my life that can be improved with more patience?” We should not start counting how many times we are not getting what we want if we get a “no” for an answer. We should try to seek another way, a better way and if the answer is still “no”, we should accept it. This is patience. To develop patience we must understand that not everything we try for the first time, we succeed. Patience is to try again and get better each time. Even when success comes, we must keep on trying to improve ourselves so that we do no slide back into a position where all we have achieved should be wasted.

As Character leaders, we must extend ourselves to other people with Patience and what flows out of patience are hope and optimism. We all have certain things or people in our lives that are unchangeable; our physical appearance, lost of a family members or inconsiderate behaviors from another person that hurt us etc. It will be frustrating sometimes if we insist on changing these things. Instead, we should focus on what really matters and concentrate on things that can be improved instead of wasting time trying to change the unchangeable.