Patience

There was once man who asked his friend to pray to God that he would possess the virtue of patience. The friend prayed to God as the young man was listening. He said, “God, please give my friend problems today and tomorrow and more to come.” The young man was shocked and said, “why are you praying that way? “ and his friend said, “ That’s the only way for you to learn patience.” What makes us patient? A day can hardly be perfect. Big problems and small ones seem to be part of our daily web. We don’t have to find them, they come like rain or even as strong as a storm. It is hard to welcome them, but whether we like it or not they seem to be intertwined in our lives like light and shadows. Some catch you in the middle of the day, like you were just so happy you received your bonus, and here you have a cart full of groceries. You are standing in a long queue of people in a grocery store, and suddenly the cashier ran out of change and goes to another cashier. She stays there a moment longer, unmindful of the others waiting, and while they are exchanging money, they also exchange their life stories. You couldn’t tell whether it is your stomach growling or your temper. Everyday, you have to wait for a public transportation to go to work. Finally an easy ride comes (sometimes not so easy to ride)and no one moves to give you a space but you have to literally crawl to the farthest seat between the knees of other passengers. Those who were ahead of you wanted to have an easy access to the door when they go out so no one cared if you were having a hard time. It is rare to find those who are well-bred individuals who move and shorten your ordeal. Then you wish that at least there should be notices plastered in all public utility vehicles reminding people of good manners and a little bit of kindness. Motorists have the same problems with others like them, our egos and selfishness surface when we are exposed to challenging real-life experiences. Other grueling circumstance is when you are tested during a long and tedious process of procuring documents in public or private offices and you had to read minds why it takes so long. When typhoons come you had to get used to floods and brownouts. These are irritants that stretch our patience to its limits. You had to pat your back if you survive the day without cursing someone. But Thomas Jefferson says that “Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.” Patience is a virtue because it is sometimes impossible to attain.