I’m blessed with the worst kind of impatient nature anyone can be endowed with. Always in a hurry to do things and always racing against time, that is the only pace I know. All through school reading ‘patience is a virtue’; all through college cautioned to ‘be patient’; and all through married life implementing the adage has got me irritated and tired.
I’m in a conflict of what should be exhausting and what actually is. Why is patience a virtue? It can’t be so under all circumstances, at all times; especially when I am discovering the virtues of impatience. I don’t believe in procrastination. What needs to be done should be done now; in my case, immediately; so much so that I call myself an “immediate person”.
I hear my friends complain about not having enough time and then counting off things that need to be done, while I am done with my tasks rather fast. I almost never put off writing a letter, replying to mail on the internet, making telephone calls, packing things away, and so on. Putting off tasks is only wasting a lot of time worrying about doing these on time, and the anxiety drains me out.
Why take the risk of getting busy in other things and forgetting to do the first task. Why not do it immediately and be free to do other things. Life is short and the beautiful world is vast, interesting activities are numerous, and passionate encounters many; who can afford to wait patiently for things to happen. Embrace life with impatience, enthusiasm, and zest. Fast paced and exuberant, with a spring in the step, be always on the move.
{{/usCountry}}Why take the risk of getting busy in other things and forgetting to do the first task. Why not do it immediately and be free to do other things. Life is short and the beautiful world is vast, interesting activities are numerous, and passionate encounters many; who can afford to wait patiently for things to happen. Embrace life with impatience, enthusiasm, and zest. Fast paced and exuberant, with a spring in the step, be always on the move.
{{/usCountry}}A patient person, for me, lacks passion and the will to seek a high out of life. Sailing through life patiently might be safe, it cannot be fun. Like most people, I can justify my attitude. I believe impatience is a virtue because I don’t see the converse being true. There must be many words in favour of patience but my book has impatience written on every page. I bask in it, enjoy it, revel in its pulsating pace, and ride on things throbbing with intensity. Taste the nectar of impatience and relish it; it’s intoxicating.
‘Slow and steady’ might have won the race some time but today’s winning mantra is: “Don’t put off till tomorrow what can be done today”. There is abundance of knowledge, opportunities, experiences, and relationships to imagine and want to get; so we need to keep going. Enjoying life every minute is the way to be. Agreed, all events may not be sweet, but they are experiences that enrich us and make us wiser.
Savour every moment without delay, and enjoy life now.
The writer is a Ludhiana-based freelance contributor.