The Forgotten Virtue Of Patience
Those who succeed in maintaining patience in the current crisis will survive it better. All others should learn this forgotten virtue now at the latest.
Public life is at a standstill almost everywhere in the world. There are no concerts, no major events, and no travel. Millions of people have to stay at home instead of going to work.
The longer the crisis lasts, the more eagerly we await the end of the restrictions. Many are now vehemently demanding that shops and schools reopen, that restaurants and cinemas be allowed to receive guests again and that we are allowed to fly on holiday again.
But those who have to decide this cannot merely rerelease everything immediately. They know the risk, and that they would be blamed if people died because the anti-corona measures were withdrawn too quickly.
So we have to be prepared to live with a lot of restrictions for weeks and months to come.
The question is, how do we deal with that?
The impatient people are gradually becoming aggressive. They spread fake news and play down the virus against their better judgment. They do this out of pure selfishness and because they can no longer stand their own impatience.
Globalization and digitalization have had many beneficial effects, but both together have also taken away a vital virtue — patience.
In a world in which it became increasingly normal to get everything immediately at any time, we demanded more and more from ourselves as well. If the world delivers everything to us instantly, then we, too, have the feeling that we must always provide everything immediately.
The email has to be answered the same day, the push notification from Facebook demands an immediate response, and we feel the duty to improve ourselves and our lives continually.
Now there is nothing wrong with having goals and wishes. One should also not be afraid of self-development. Goals, dreams, and self-optimization have their justification.
These things only become a problem when we cannot wait for them to happen. Our wishes must be fulfilled immediately, a goal that cannot be achieved tomorrow overtaxes and frustrates us.
In the field of self-development, we are not looking for sustainable strategies, but life-hacks and shortcuts.
We are doing this because the world has shown us how to do it. In the last decades, all areas of life have accelerated more and more. This has triggered the urge in us to accelerate our own lives as well — every single aspect of them.
But in times of crisis, we can no longer get away with it. Our impatient demands for a quick return to normality cannot be met.
We are all in a situation from which we cannot get out overnight. We are condemned indefinitely to wait until things get better.
The patient person will, therefore, get through these difficult times better than the impatient.
Impatience puts the body and mind in a constant state of stress. The impatient person thus damages his physical and mental health.
The patient has long been ridiculed as backward and weak. Those who did not keep up with the insane pace were looked upon crookedly.
Today the patient is better off than the hectic. Patience leads to smarter decisions, and intelligent decisions can save lives in this crisis.
One of the many opportunities that this crisis offers us, along with all its terrible effects, is the chance to rediscover patience.
If we cannot change the situation, we can try to change ourselves. Let us rediscover the patience that has been neglected for so long. There has never been a better opportunity. Let us take this chance.
René Junge a published author writing on ILLUMINATION.
Do you want more of this?
Receive weekly emails, and don’t miss any of my articles.
subscribe here http://bit.ly/ReneJunge
Read also:
