Patience Is A Virtue

In order to convey the full impact of my short message, I thought that it would be best to start off with a few definitions:

Definition of PATIENCE
1: the capacity, habit, or fact of being patient

Definition of PATIENT
1: bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint
2: manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain
3: not hasty or impetuous
4: steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity

Definition of VIRTUE
1a: conformity to a standard of right : morality
1b: a particular moral excellence
2: plural : an order of angels — see celestial hierarchy
3: a beneficial quality or power of a thing
4: manly strength or courage : valor
5: a commendable quality or trait : merit
6: a capacity to act : potency
7 : chastity especially in a woman

I was looking at the buds on the trees today and thought about how slowly they grow into leaves and flowers. All winter the new bright green sprouts patiently wait and then burst forth in the spring. I don’t ever recall seeing a tree bloom during winter because it was sick of waiting for warm temperatures.

Our lives are the same as the trees. There are times we must patiently wait for the spring to arrive, but in order to burst forth and bloom, we have to also be prepared.

Some hard times or trials are more difficult than others to overcome. It becomes necessary to push through the pain. I’m sure you can relate with this fact. Anyone who has ever exercised knows that to see results, one must keep on exercising even if it is tiring, boring, hard or painful.

When Alyssa was in high school, we both joined a fitness club. She wanted to workout at the gym rather than take physical education at school. Since she could prove the number of hours she exercised at the gym, it wasn’t necessary for her to take the last physical education class. I was exercising with her two or three hours a night. It was exhausting and I didn’t want to exercise! But like a good mom, I stuck with the exercise until Alyssa had satisfied her high school physical education class requirement.

It wasn’t easy to exercise intently.

It also wasn’t easy to patiently wait for Alyssa to finish the exercise hours that were required .

But we have opportunities for exhibiting patience many times everyday. Having patience helps to keep peace in your life and keep anxiety out of your life. To quote one of my favorite people/characters:

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry.We shall get there some day.”~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh ~

I’ve had to exhibit patience thousands of times in my life, but honestly, the hardest trial I’ve ever had to overcome is healing from PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has wreaked so much havoc in my life that at times I have been powerless to do anything about it. BUT, and that’s a big but, I KNOW that EVENTUALLY I will completely overcome this trauma caused disorder because I will patiently persevere with the recovery.

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effectbefore which difficulties disappearand obstacles vanish.”~ John Quincy Adams ~

I have one thing in common with a snail – Slow and steady wins the race. One of the things that I have learned by having PTSD is that “the race” is only against myself. The urge to compare myself with anyone else has disappeared. This is my life. Only I can live my life. Only I can make the decisions in my life that lead me to health and happiness. Only I know what I really want and need. Best of all, I have actually gotten to the point that I really believe the words I just wrote.

I have slowly changed my life and now I patiently keep striving for an even happier life.

“He that can have patience can have what he will.”~ Benjamin Franklin ~

It’s such a comfort to know that all my hard work and patience won’t be futile.

Patience is a virtue well worth the effort to acquire.