Twenty-three minutes and counting.
That’s how long I’ve been standing at the pharmacy counter, watching the pharmacist move in slow motion behind a fortress of prescription bottles. “It’ll just be a few more minutes,” she calls out for the third time. My phone battery is at 12%. The fluorescent lights are humming. And the elderly man next to me has just launched into part four of his life story.
I know I’m not the only one who’s ever contemplated whether it’s possible to die from waiting. My prescription is literally sitting there, in plain sight, just waiting to be handed over. I can see my name on it.
And there I was, a grown adult, fighting the urge to climb over the counter and grab it myself.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. Here I was, planning to write about patience while failing the most universal patience test known to humankind – the pharmacy wait. But maybe that’s exactly why we need to have this conversation.
The Instant Everything Era
We’re living in a world of instant everything – messages, deliveries, entertainment, gratification. We’ve forgotten how to wait, how to sit with discomfort, how to let things unfold at their own pace.
The thing is, patience isn’t just about waiting. It’s about how we wait. It’s the difference between gritting your teeth through traffic and using that time to listen to your favorite podcast, between anxiously refreshing your email and trusting that some things take time to develop.
Baby Steps to Better Patience
Start small. Really small. Like waiting-an-extra-minute-before-checking-your-phone small. Patience is a muscle, and like any muscle, it needs gradual training. Try letting someone merge in front of you in traffic without sighing dramatically. Wait an extra day before buying something online. Let your coffee cool without blowing on it.
Know Your Breaking Points
Notice your impatience triggers. Mine are predictable: slow walkers, loading screens, and people who take too long to order at coffee shops. Once you know your triggers, you can catch yourself before the frustration takes over. Sometimes just naming it – “Ah, there’s my impatience again” – can help diffuse it.
The Active Art of Waiting
Remember that patience isn’t passive. This was a game-changer for me. Being patient doesn’t mean being a doormat or letting life pass you by. It means choosing your responses rather than reacting on autopilot. It’s active waiting, mindful waiting.
Start with the Person in the Mirror
Practice self-patience first. We’re often harder on ourselves than anyone else. So you messed up at work? You’re still learning. Haven’t figured out your life purpose at 30? That’s okay – life isn’t a race. Treating yourself with patience creates a blueprint for extending it to others.
The Hidden Blessings of Slow
Look for the hidden gifts in waiting. Sometimes the pause is the point. That delayed flight might lead to an unexpected conversation. That slow-moving project might need extra time to evolve into something better than you imagined. Some of the best things in life – relationships, skills, personal growth – can’t be rushed.
The Truth About Patience
Here’s what nobody tells you about patience: it’s not about becoming some zen master who never gets annoyed. It’s about creating space between the trigger and your response. It’s about understanding that your time isn’t more valuable than anyone else’s. It’s about accepting that life moves at its own pace, regardless of how hard we push.
A Work in Progress
I’m still working on it. I still get antsy waiting for websites to load and elevators to arrive. But I’m learning to breathe through these moments instead of fighting them. I’m learning that patience isn’t the absence of urgency – it’s the wisdom to know what deserves our urgency and what doesn’t.
Maybe true patience is like a good cup of tea – it needs time to steep. And maybe that’s okay. After all, we’ve got time. Even if we’re standing in that grocery store line, watching our ice cream melt, learning patience one moment at a time.