Patience has eternally been a virtue...yet in today's data analytics buzzing scrutiny-filled world, does being too patient equal to just not being fast enough?
Obviously, it goes without stating that if you want to see the outcomes, you've got to let your seed grow its roots, allow the universe to work its magic with photosynthesis, and then watch the results gradually bloom...but wait, who's got that kind of time, or patience? We are the generation that is obsessed with instant results and constantly swear by the quick fix-its.
Long gone are those days where we would invest hours and hours into preparing a meal; we are all about either, fast-food, quick recipes or meal prepping because patience isn't as overflowing today like it was back in the day, is it?
We are that age that seeks instant results - whether it's weight loss or self-growth; from swiping to find a potential match or dismissing someone away just as quickly, to expecting a reply, as soon as the double ticks have appeared over WhatsApp; we make our own seasons, by seeding the clouds, and dream of days when hyperloop is accessible to all of us...because who has the patience to travel for three hours when it can be achieved in forty minutes?
It's a very typical statement to declare, that if a website takes too long to load, it's already out of the race to conclude a deal...if the precious wi-fi accidentally lags for a second too long, we've lost our nerve and lo behold, restarted the router. Ever noticed how annoying the non-deciders in a Starbucks line are, or how ten-second recaps on Netlflix drive us crazy? YouTube has even begun capitalizing on us because of its awareness of how deeply despised the five-second commercials are and the anxiety attached to the wait until we can 'skip' to the video. Hour-long meetings, that could be summarized in two-line emails, or those people that call instead of simply texting...why do they even do that? Don't even get me started on the slow walkers, even worse; the slow talkers, and the worst in the tier, the slow texters, with their everlasting 'typing...' - get moving already, you slowpokes! In fact, merely listing all of these down is intolerably riling me up. We just don't have the patience or the time.
Time is money but patience makes you richer.
Hold on, did the most age-old mantras just collide against each other? How do we know, which to pick? How do we grow richer, without losing time and money? Even more important, what is the most tried, and tested?
Which one is righter of the right?
The paradox connected with time and patience is that more often than not, I think to slowly uncover; the older an individual gets, the more they're familiarized with the theory of patience being the key ingredient that genuinely mattered, the rest of it just flows, as consequences. It's probably because, with every new experience, you are more accustomed to "growth pains," a concept, a close friend of mine, recently unveiled to me. What are these growth pains, you ask? Let's explore further...why do we hate anything that isn't put in the most concise way achievable? I'm pretty sure, you could possibly be wondering why this reading piece couldn't have been shorter...be patient, my friend, good things take time.
Why do we reject slowness or the graduality of the process? Why do we reject being patient?
We exist in a time and society that feeds off on each other; our beliefs, our sentiments, our perceptions of success, and disasters, just like we always have. The only distinction now is that the way results were evaluated back then as compared to how they are, now. The culture now is to question anything that isn't fast and if it isn't fast enough, it is undoubtedly deemed as inefficient, and why in the world would you want to be incompetent in a world that's filled with fast-paced buzzing overachievers.
Why do we hate waiting?
The nows will assuredly impact the future, like the past impacted our present. We are The Impulsive Ones, consumed in bustling forward mindlessly, to derive a result, trying out diverse technologically advanced methods to get our seed blooming faster. It's only when we look at it in the most aesthetic manner, possibly when we are older, and slow walkers perhaps, do we realize, the beauty lay in the process of those growth pains; and not just the results. Our ambitions will keep changing, but to just rush past them isn't justice to the very result.
So, pause.
Embrace those growth pains. Espouse the basic method. Appreciate the slow walkers that are taking a moment longer, to appreciate. Pick up that damn call, texting is too robotic and detached anyway. Watch that commercial on YouTube, you might pick up a thing or two. Allow a moment of slow wi-fi, or even better, no wi-fi. Attach yourself to your world, instead of constantly racing past it.
To put it in simple words, these are the dots in your life that the universe is photosynthesizing, that we are very haphazardly oblivious of, until one day...we discover the bloom surfacing. Hang in there, patiently, and trust yourself to eventually connect those dots that made no sense, while it was happening.
Marry patience, you're only getting richer in and with that process.
PS: Thanks for being patient with me, and allowing me steal a few moments of your time. With love,
Stories By Giggles