“Patience, young grasshopper,” I tell myself as I try to flip a still-gooey pancake. A canceled morning class amidst a stressful week is the perfect excuse to actually make some breakfast. I realized earlier this week that as things have gotten busier and busier, I have become more impatient than ever and a morning to just chill out was exactly what I needed. Waiting for my pancake to turn golden-brown, I realized that I had been staring at the stove for a good five minutes only to discover I had accidentally turned off the burner. There’s no amount of patience equal to making pancakes with the stove turned off.
It wouldn’t have been a big deal, but there are so many better things to be doing than staring at pancakes not being cooked. Clearly it was not unreasonable for me to be impatient with the situation, but it was the last straw in a series of what had been frustrating mistakes.
Then — insert hypothetical lightbulb here — it dawned on me. The world is full of leg-bouncing, finger-tapping, watch-checking people and I surely have become one of them. I’m as impatient as they come and for the sake of everyone I know and for the quality of my pancakes, this needs to be remedied.
From instant coffee to the 10 items-or-less line at the store, we’re not expected to wait long for much of anything these days. Is this good or bad? It makes us an efficient and progressive society as a whole, but individually makes us impatient, rude and often chronic complainers.
Seeing as my own personal philosophy tends to be more to the tune of “Patience — ain’t nobody got time for that,” I figured I’d call in some experts on the subject. Or at least some people who have accomplished something worthwhile and can put things a little more eloquently than I can.
John Quincy Adams once said “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”
Now, I’m all about magic. And while I’m still not giving up on osmosis as my go-to studying technique, patience and perseverance are probably more effective.
Thomas Jefferson, while nowhere near being a perfect man, was still successful and knew how get things done. He once said “Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.”
You may be thinking something to the effect of “Well, I’ve seen old paintings of how people dressed in your day, and there’s nothing ‘unruffled’ about it.” No, but seriously. Regardless of your opinion of Jefferson, his advice makes sense and losing your cool never made anyone look good.
Isaac Newton once said “If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention, than to any other talent.”
This is especially comforting to me, as I am still in search of a talent. Until then, it’s nice to know that patience is of some value in the meantime.
I may never serve as president or formulate thelaws of motionanduniversal gravitation, but I will make a decent batch of pancakes or die trying. So consider this a friendly reminder to breathe in and out when old ladies are crossing the street, when chapel goes a little longer than usual or if there’s a Harding couple holding hands on the sidewalk with absolutely no room to walk around them. Patience is important and somewhat scarce this time in the semester, so simmer down and teach yourself a lesson in patience. If you’ve ever had to use a dial-up connection to the Internet then you’re a step ahead of the rest of us.
