What’s Your Level of Patience?

I f e v e r y w o r d i n a n a r t i c l e w a s written in that way, would it drive you crazy? Would you have the patience to read it all the way through or would you just “forget it” and move on?

Being patient is probably one of the top characteristics you’d want in your significant other, friends, and yourself. But, it’s the most hardest characteristics to hone because you need situations that require patience in order for you to overcome it–call it life tests, if you will.

Some are naturally thrown into the situation, forcing them to withstand and endure problems, delays or sufferings without giving up on life or becoming super anxious or annoyed. It can be something as little as hearing the person next to you loudly slurping their noodles at a restaurant, which you really can’t stand, or as big as not being able to find a job after getting laid off when it’s already been 11 months and counting.

Whatever the situation, it’s how you respond that sets you apart from the rest of the pack. If you really think about it, everything requires patience. Waiting in line to purchase an item. Waiting for an appointment. Waiting in traffic. Waiting on the plane to get to the next destination. Waiting for a website to load on a slow server. Waiting for the bus. Waiting from engagement time to wedding day. Waiting nine months until delivery. Waiting until you achieve your career goal. Waiting for your passport to arrive in the mail. And the list goes on and on.

And with such an express culture we live in, it’s easy to get angry when your texts messages don’t get a reply after a few short minutes or the the person you emailed didn’t respond even after a few hours when you know he/she has a smartphone connected to the account. You make all these “logical” assumptions thinking you are in the right and the other person is in the wrong.

But maybe she was taking a shower or nap. Maybe he got into a car accident, God forbid. Maybe she was at a job interview. Maybe he was thinking about how to respond and while he was thinking about that, his boss called and eventually forgot about the text.

Whatever the situation, when you start to become empathetic, your reaction starts to change as well. The culture of instant gratification has gotten us used to getting everything now. Fast is related to positive. Slow is related to negative. And that is how we subconsciously seem to rationalize situations and experiences.

So the next time you encounter a moment that tests your patience, rather than approaching it impulsively and in your own perspective, think about it logically and empathetically. And is it really worth getting angry over? High blood pressure, a ruined day, damaged relationships? Probably not.