The Value of Patience

We've all heard the cliche, good things come to those who wait. And in some ways it rings true. We are born into a world in which we wait for a lot of things and how we spend our time waiting is often the determinant of whether we are successful or not in whatever the endeavor may be.

In school, we wait in line. At lunchtime at school, we wait in line. After school, we wait in line to get on the bus; we even wait in line to get off the bus. When we grow older and are all graduated from school; if we use public transportation, we are still waiting in line for the bus.

You would think that after a certain point in time we would graduate from having to wait in line and just go right on in. This is not the case, unfortunately; because there are so many of us that we have to wait to take our turn. Waiting in line even spills over onto this country's freeways and roads. We wait in line at stop signs, at street lights, and at freeway off-ramps. Sometimes we wait in line at freeway on-ramps too.

So, as you can see; waiting in line is a skill to be mastered with the overall lesson, being patience. I know what your thinking, you're saying," haven't I waited long enough?" Well, actually; no, you haven't. Waiting is an art and to truly master the art, one must become good at time management.

Now, in time management; there are choices to be made. You can choose to think, read, imagine, or get really upset about the fact that you have to wait so long in line. Now the latter can cause high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, and even death. I, for one, do not wish to choose the latter.

There is opportunity in waiting, there really is. We can develop our minds, come up with different ways in which we can make a positive contribution to the world. You see, when we are little; we are waiting to grow up. But, we are looking at it the wrong way. While we are waiting we can be getting our minds ready for the good things in life. There's even joy to be had while growing up and lots of lessons to learn and fun to be had along the way.

Life is all a matter of perspective and so is waiting. We can talk to people while we're waiting in line, get to know each other, and even develop friendships. Now, if we're doing something like driving, it's very important that we keep our eyes and mind on the road and the cars around us. Remember, safety first; even when waiting.