Patience is an important virtue to face life with. But as of late, I’ve realized there’s a difference between being patient and waiting around. When I was younger, I was hesitant to be open with others about how I felt. I didn’t know how to let someone know I was upset, how I felt about them or even sometimes that I had a different opinion. But I’m continually learning that if you’re capable of vocalizing how you feel, it changes everything. Share with someone if they hurt your feelings because chances are, they didn’t necessarily realize their words were hurtful. Tell someone how you feel about them because they might feel the same way. Or they may not, but with that knowledge, you learn what you need to pick up the pieces and move on.
In the words of the perfect wisdom-filled singer herself, Taylor Swift once said, “There’s a time for silence, and there’s a time for waiting your turn. But if you know how you feel, and you so clearly know what you need to say, you’ll know it. I don’t think you should wait. I think you should speak now.”
I used to think patience was biting my tongue and waiting for things to happen. But it’s not. Being patient is doing what you can to make the situation into the most it can be and taking it from there. With that being said, patience is necessary to build something great. Recently, I read a quote that really stuck with me. Vincent Van Gogh once said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
I’ve found that so many talented, bright people surrounding me get dismayed when they don’t receive a leadership position, job or internship that they applied for. It is human nature to be disappointed, but this is the part where patience comes in — the capability to distinguish that sometimes in order to make things worthwhile, we must wait. It might not necessarily be easy, but it will give your successes that much more meaning when you can look back from where you started. Keep these thoughts in the back of your mind — patience doesn’t mean holding back your thoughts, but it does mean being willing to wait for what’s right.