Life is not a Bowl of Instant Soup

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Published by Rachelle Disbennett-Lee
Saturday, August 24, 2002
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I live in society where the expectation is we will have things instantly if not sooner. Somehow, there has developed a microwave mentality here where the expectation is everything happens in an instant and nothing worth having is worth waiting for. Unfortunately, this mentality has created a sense of urgency around everything and the art of patience is lost.

When a friend of mine was dying of cancer, a family member lamented that she wished that my friend would hurry up and die; it was taking too long. This may sound coldhearted, but the truth is that this is a product of our "hurry up and move" society. We forget that, in life, not everything happens in a rush and there is a process to life as well as death. Not everything happens in an instant to many things in life.

I was sitting at a red light watching the light intently ready to move. When the light changed, I put my foot on the gas petal, but before I could move, the person behind me honked their horn. I guess the three seconds I took to move my car was not fast enough. Again, as a society we have lost our patience. We cannot wait, not even three seconds. I have not escaped this mentality either. I was doing some computer upkeep. The program that I was running announced that it would take seven minutes to run the program and test all the sectors of my computer. I was annoyed that it was going to take a whole seven minutes and almost stopped the program. Luckily, I came to my senses and ran the program and found something else to do for those long seven minutes.

The problem with this instant soup mentality is that we have lost our sense of patience. Daily we rush round expecting things to happen in an instant. This lack of patience doesn't prepare us for the times when events don't run on a timer. There are things that are beyond our control from traffic jams to the passing of life. There are times when we are stuck right where we are and are forced to stop and wait. Unfortunately, when we have not practiced patience, these times in life cause us to be uncomfortable and can even cause distress. The cure? Practice patience.

Coaching

Patience is an art that we have lost as a society here in the U. S. We rush around and expect everything to take seconds. The lack of patience does not help us prepare for life. Many things happen through a process and processes take time. Processes are often beyond our control and cannot be rushed. From baking bread to buying a house, a process exists that cannot be shortened or skipped. There are things in life worth waiting for. What we need to do is practice patience each day so that we can be prepared and perhaps even enjoy the things in life that do not happen in an instant.

Practice patience everyday. Do not be the person that honks the horn or makes rude comments in the store line because the cashier is a tad slow. Learn to enjoy the process and slow down. Practicing patience everyday will prepare you for the times in life where patience is required. During these times, you will be able to stay calm instead of getting upset and stressed.

Coaching Question

Have you lost your patience?

Coaching Challenge

Practice patience everyday. Notice the times when you are impatient. See if you can stop yourself and be patient. Notice how it feels to be more in the flow of life and not be in such a rush. Strive to add a little more patience to your life each day.

Daily Success Program

Patience = Living in the flow of life

Quotes

"All's well in the end, if you've only the patience to wait." Rabelais

"The greatest power is often simple patience." E. Joseph Cossman

"The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it." Arnold H. Glasgow