“Patience is a virtue”. Sounds like such a cliché. Most of us, including me, hear this phrase and don’t think much into it. But something happened to me lately and it made me ponder on the meaning of “patience”. This is what the word actually means: The ability to wait for something without getting angry or upset. But why is it so important to have patience?

I think it’s because lack of patience can destroy a good thing.

If anyone has ever cooked fries at home, you would know that it requires a huge amount of patience – waiting for the fries to cook. Such a slow and painful process. I would walk away, and come back to check, over and over again, but the fries still weren’t cooked. Sometimes it gets so frustrating, and I just can’t wait anymore. So I’d think ‘what the hell’ and remove the under-cooked fries from the frying pan. And needless to say, they tasted like shit.

If only I had waited a bit more, these fries could have turned out to be amazingly delicious. If only I held on a little longer. I could have had something good, if only I had the patience.

The same goes for relationships. It takes time to open up and be comfortable with someone. It takes time to figure out where the relationship is going. These things can’t be rushed.

But try explaining that to an impatient person. Trust me, I have. Of course, he said that he understands. And that he will have patience. But as the definition suggests, to have patience is to wait for something without getting upset. Sure, he was able to wait – I didn’t give him much choice there. But the reality is: he was upset. He was impatient, and there was nothing I could do about it.

It’s a shame though. We could have had something good, if only he had the patience.