Patience as an essential skill in peacemaking

You're at the park trying to get a bus? Patience!

You need employment? Be patient!

You've turned in much efforts into that stuff and you're anxiously waiting for the outcome? Please exercise some patience. 

Someone just got you angry and the fire in your eyes can tell that you want to explode with words? Pause and take a deep breath!

Patience begets art works. Kudos to all artists around the world!

Old Oshodi: Art work by Omoniyi Gabriel Gilbert (OAU graduate)

Have you ever sat in front of a mind-blowing art work and wondered where the artist got that kind of patience from? The patience to put tiny paintings together to make a wonderful image? If you haven't, I have and I tell you, each time I have the opportunity to stare at any art work, I bluntly reject the imagination of being an artist and my subconscious mind tells me I can never be one. I won't even think of that! The imagination alone is tiring, not to mention it being a reality. It's obviously not a small job. It requires a whole lot of deliberate patience. I'm sure those artists will have a lot say if you ask them. That kind of patience is what we need to sojourn successfully in life without sustaining internal bruises. 

Patience is the act of waiting without complaining which is needed in the management of internal and external stress. It is true that we are all born free but exposure to life's positives and negatives usually cause us to lose our mental freedom. 

Patience is not just about not being angry with people neither is it only about being slow to speak or act but it is also about taking things easy on yourself (the real you which is in you; your mind!). It is a coping skill which helps us to remain firm and unshaken in a world full of blows and uncertainties.

Failure is life's way of getting us prepared for what is actually meant for us. So, whenever failure of any kind comes your way, instead of you wallowing or becoming frustrated, remember that they are part of life processes and that we must always keep our heads above the water to keep surviving. It is not a time to quit. It's a time to get up and try again with better experience. Don't rush the process of life.

Constant failures and delayed success usually set us on a needless and unstructured race especially when we think others are moving faster than we are. We tend to lose focus of where we are going exactly and dabble into various things with no proper plan. We forget that life is not a competition. 

We all have different goals and aspirations in life and the processes we will go through to achieve them are individually different. Patience is that virtue that helps us guide against the temptation of comparison. Comparing your achievements to other people's achievements is an evidence that contentment is lacking. We need to wait for our own time and most importantly take up the required challenges for the actualization of our own goal so that we don't lose our rightful possession in the midst of anxiety. The danger in hastiness and copying others is that we end up losing something greater and better than what we greedily run after. This act complicates failure, increases mistakes and robs us of our sanity. 

Interestingly enough, as poor as you think your current achievements are, someone somewhere is wishing for them. So enjoy everything each stage of life offers you with contentment. It is just certain that nothing is permanent. 

One-time or recurring failure should not kill your dream and it shouldn't make you opt for shortcuts. Everything will take shape when you least expect. Don't stop trying. Keep your dreams and hopes alive. 

Ensure you are taking steps one after the other. Remember that "slow and steady" wins the race. This is not to encourage slothfulness. I assume you know where to draw the line. You can tell when you are really hasty.

Most importantly, as you wait, avoid laziness as much as possible. It is only when you faithfully do your part by investing your strength and time into something that you can confidently wait for results. 

Don't be deceived, the outcome of our efforts may not come as quick as we want it. The problem is that we have become so used to immediate results and we are not ready to apply the principle of time. We rather sit and complain at one failed trial. 

No food gets done in a second. There is always a "making" period. Whatever it is you are expecting to yield a good result, give it time. And peradventure it doesn't turn out well,  it is very important to develop the ability to cheer yourself up after every disappointment. It is not the end of life. 

When you patiently wait and allow things to unfold naturally, your mind would be satisfied with peace.