Life Lessons From Dad: Patience

Well, this lesson is one that I am being tested on at this very moment.  This is one that I am surprising myself on too. 

Lesson 3: Patience

One of the hardest things in life is to have patience, especially when things are beyond our control.  We all want the instant gratification, instant answers to our questions, and instant solutions to our problems.  Sometimes, patience is the key.  Having patience is key to keeping ourselves in check so that we don't do things that we regret or respond in ways that hurt ourselves or other people.  There will be many situations that you will face that will test your patience and a lot of those situations will be beyond your control.  The most important thing is to take a deep breath, keep a level head, don't jump to conclusions or make snap decisions without addressing all the facts, and give yourself time to think about how you can accomplish a task or overcome an obstacle or situation.  Take your time. Patience also pairs well with hope.  There rarely is a situation or obstacle that can't be overcome if you have hope in addition to a little patience.  Without patience, you might be driven to make assumptions, act irrationally, lose your temper, or jump into a situation without the full facts.  There will always be time, so be patient AND have Hope.  All things worth while in life take time and hard work.  Sometimes, when things are beyond our control at the current moment, if we just sit back, have a little patience AND Hope, and wait it out, an opportunity will present itself for the situation, task, or obstacle to be addressed.  Things do have a way of working themselves out but sometimes you have to be patient.
 
There have been many times where I have lost my patience and it's gotten me into a lot of trouble or has caused an issue to be magnified much more than it had to be. There have been times where I have been in too much of a hurry to accomplish a task or overcome an obstacle. Whatever situation may have arose, not having patience all led to the same results. Try to remain calm and patient and you will avoid a lot of the pain, hurt, and troubles that can arise.