“Calm down. Give it a little time. It will still come through,” my mom would always say. Her voice, soft and pleasing like July’s drizzle. Somehow, her soothing voice and words always find a way to ease my troubled mind. One of the many lessons I have learnt from my mom is the power of patience. She'd often teach that patience is a gem. Whenever I was worried or troubled about something not going my way, she would tell me to calm down and relax. I remember when I was expecting an admission letter from the university I applied to. For days, I kept refreshing, pacing and panicking. And when I couldn't handle it anymore, I started getting cranky. And then when my mom came with her soothing voice, she always knew when to strike.
“Favourrrr, calm down,” she'd always drag the “r.”
My mom believed that rushing things only worse. So I learnt to wait. I learnt to stay calm. I learnt to believe that things would eventually fall into place. Patience became a part of me all thanks to my mom. I applied this virtue to every part of my life. I applied it to my education. Whenever I was finding it difficult to grasp a course, I took things slowly. Instead of panicking, I relaxed. I calmed down, restrategized and got back stronger.
I applied it to my spiritual life. Whenever I prayed for something and didn't get it, I'd tell myself that God is doing what's best for me. So, I continued praying. I prayed harder, and if He willed, I'd get an answer to my prayers. And if not, then it wasn't time. And of course, I applied patience to people; friendships and relationships. Human beings are complex. Literally everything about them is loaded with complexities. With time, I realized that applying patience to people is complex. For me, it became complicated and sometimes risky
I love being patient with humans. I believe that if everyone were patient towards one another, the world would be a better place. I mean, think about it. If a particular country offends another country but instead of retaliating, the other country decides to be patient. They decide to give them another chance. By doing this, I strongly believe that the world would be a better place. This is my mantra. This is how I have been living my life for a very long time now.
If someone messes up by hurting me badly, I don’t give up on them easily. I have been in and out of so many friendships. I have been hurt by many friends and many times, I gave them the benefit of a doubt t. What if they didn't intend to hurt me even if that was their actual intention? What if they didn't mean to even though they meant every bit of their actions? What if they weren't in their right senses even though their eyes, ears and minds were clear? In the end, I always succeed in “applying patience” and giving them a second chance. Sometimes a third and fourth. And in rare cases, the chances go beyond that.
But at some point, it gets dangerous.
You know how we have “Save me” in Subway Surfers? And then when you run out of these things, you have no other option than to actually give up and restart the game? Just like in this game, I also run out of patience. I run out of “second chances.” And at that point, it becomes dangerous. I become dangerous. I mean, you keep giving them chances over and over again, but the time I now finally have enough, that particular person disappears from my world like they never mattered. And even if I desire to, it is difficult to let them back in.
Patience is a virtue, but for me, it is sometimes dangerous.
Image in this post is mine.
Thanks for reading.