Everyone knows the saying, ‘patience is a virtue.’ Whenever someone says that I always, without fail, say ‘patience is a virtue that I do not have.’ That’s the biggest understatement of the century.
So far, life for me in 2017 hasn’t been the best. I’ve had to deal with some situations I had no idea how to even begin going about, I have been stressed beyond belief and I can’t actually remember the last time I slept through the entire night. So whenever I’m told to just be patient and things will work out, it’s not the craziest thing in the world that I’m frustrated about it.
When I’m told to just be patient I roll my eyes (in my head) and then go about things, probably making things a lot worse than they need to be. Then when I realize I was being stupid and needed to just be patient, I get even more frustrated with myself. It’s quite the vicious cycle.
There have been a few things I’ve learned this year that I wouldn’t have learned because of the rough patches I’ve gone through in the past three months.
1. You can’t control everything.
I’ve always tried to make sure that everything goes to plan, and there are ways that things are meant to go but so far 2017 has proved that nothing goes according to plan. You also have to learn how to take a breath, let it happen and deal with it. It’s not an ideal situation but nothing handed to you in life is perfect.
2: You can’t control everyone.
I’ve never been bossy, I’ve always been pretty laid back and just let people do what they wanted to do, but this past semester, I’ve come across some people I wish I could control and prayed that they’d just listen to me. People will do what they want, regardless of what you want or what you think is best. It happens and you have to learn how to deal with it or you’re going to go absolutely insane. (I’m not saying I haven’t gone insane, but I’m starting to understand how to deal with it.)
3: You may want to give up, but you can’t.
There have been numerous times that I have told myself that I can’t do this anymore. That I’m not good enough or smart enough. I’ve beat myself up so much about pretty much everything and I’ve been so close to giving up so many times because I’ve been stretching myself so thin, but then I’m reminded by something that I can’t give up, that I have to keep going no matter how much I don’t want to. It’s beyond infuriating, but it turns out to be the best for you.
I still hate the phrase that ‘patience is a virtue’ but I get it more now. Things happen in life that are out of your control and you want to scream because it’s not going your way, but you have to take a breath and be patient. Things will eventually work out for the best. That’s still what I’m telling myself even when I want to stomp my feet and give up. Just take a breath and be patient. It’s going to be ok.
