The Virtue Of Patience

Lately, life’s been a little… slow. It seems like whatever I put my heart into, ends up breaking it. Gigs getting rejected, projects put on hold, travel plans being canceled, it feels like I am sitting in a waiting room without a clock.

Lately, life is demanding from me the virtue of patience.

Now while I do claim to be a patient person, I’d be lying if I say that it’s easy. It is grueling to wait without an endpoint. Even more when you put in efforts and set expectations.

Modern age has rewarded humanity with instant gratification at the cost of the ability to wait. We can scroll through Instagram for a bite of dopamine, call an Uber in five minutes, produce a 5,000 word essay in an instant with ChatGPT. This results in degraded patience levels.

On top of this, social media brings forth all kinds of delusions that overwhelm us. When I see my co-workers releasing their app, a classmate launching his blog, a friend traveling to London, I feel the urge to make comparisons. I constantly get reminded of my desires that cannot be fulfilled immediately.

So, what’s the solution? What do you do when life comes at a stand still and you start to lose patience? With nothing to look forward to, what am I going to do now?

I am going to control what I can control. I am going to take action.

If I have no control over the wait period, I won’t wait at all. I will remove dependence on the results and do what I wish to do, today.

I will start working on the projects that do not depend on external factors, that do not require permission. I will write open source libraries and technical articles. I will write long form essays and produce videos.

Of course, taking action won’t actually reduce the wait time. Neither would it guarantee positive outcomes. But if I do as I desire irrespective of the outcome, I’d stay somewhat detached from it. I would care less and be more patient.

Let’s see how that pans out.

What’s the pace of your life? Is it fast or slow? Chaotic or still?

Good night,
Aachman