Passion & Purpose in Overcoming Impatience & Developing Persistence

I am not a very patient man! Both a strength and weakness. I get bored with things that don’t seem to be going anywhere and easily frustrated and annoyed when I experience delay or face continuing problems that seem never ending.

This is why I sometimes like to play golf and sometimes I don’t. A test of my patience. I grew up in a very stimulating environment. Being the youngest of four boys and having most of what a young fellow could desire, there was never much quiet. At times I still found myself bored. Is this a condition caused from over stimulation and a reliance on external factors to keep me entertained? This might be the why of my impatience.

Waiting in lines is an issue for me. There needs to be a great reward to justify the time spent waiting in lines. There needs to be a great reward for waiting for anything in life. Sometimes I feel I have no choice and must bite the bullet and wait anyway. If the reward doesn’t complement the wait I can be quite disappointed.

The reward for waiting is often attached to some kind of experience or service. Seeking something that we believe will bring us greater pleasure or satisfaction in life. Conversely, we also spend time waiting to avoid a negative consequences or pain. Waiting seems like a bit of an unfair game.

Perseverance and persistence are strong traits. It is the willingness to continue along a course of action or opinion despite being faced with difficulty or delay. So this bears the question, if I lack patience, how can I remain persistent?

The piece to the puzzle is to have passion and purpose. When you have passion and purpose it is easier to persist. When you have a strong why or burning desire you will persevere. How important is the pleasure you seek or the pain you wish to avoid?

You fall for a girl or guy and so the chase begins. You relentlessly keep chasing them and even despite the countless rejections you may receive, you persist. The desire to be with this person is strong and so patience is overcome in favour of persistence. At least for a while, until the energy drains and you realise that perhaps your focus could be better utilised elsewhere, or you win the game.

Desire is the greatest supporter of persistence and perseverance. It will keep one patient even through adversity and challenge. It is what will get us out of bed with a willingness to achieve. It is our why.

When you find such desires, and there need only be a few, you will naturally find your patience towards other aspects of life decrease because anything that takes away your time, attention and energy from that you desire so strongly you will seek to avoid.

When waiting in that line, I will wait, I will deal with the delay if there is greater purpose to being there. If there is not, time is too precious and I will refrain.

When chasing your dreams patience is essential. You need to be persistent, you will need to persevere. You will need to get use to the idea of saying ‘no’ to those things that are not conducive to your dreams.

Do not abandon ship if on pursuit of your desires and in alignment with a why you find yourself no closer near the ultimate reward. Instead spend some time in contemplation and reflection. Is what you desire truly important? At the end of your life will it truly matter? Is it causing more pain then pleasure in pursuit? Is it allowing you to exist greatly now in the moment while also creating meaning and purpose in your life?

If it is important we will persist in pursuing what we desire. As equally in importance is the need to be present in the moment. Pursuit of anything that doesn’t allow enjoyment of the experience is pointless and may be the greatest sacrifice of living a meaningful life.

Sometimes when fronted with challenges and struggles we find ourselves digging a deeper hole. Don’t dig so deep that you can no longer see the light in life. Don’t be afraid to get out and start walking a new path. The happy existence is found in a journey that is continually seeking truth, discovering new and figuring things out.

Be patient and persistent towards all that you desire but avoid spending a life waiting in hope for things that may never come. The greatest sacrifice in life is the sacrifice of all that we have now in favour of cravings for a future that doesn’t yet exist.