How Building Patience Can Transform Your Life

This is the second post of a three part series on why we are made to wait for something worth having. You might prefer to start with reading the introduction here.

Note: I have created these series using a Colombian couple’s story of the suffering and difficulties that Colombians endured for 30 years and still live today. Through their personal views, experiences and lessons learned, I discovered three great reasons why waiting is a part of our journey to achieving any goal, right through to finding your life’s purpose!

A very special thank you to Lina and Jaime for sharing their story

Here’s the second reason:

To Build Patience

Ah!! This is probably one of the hardest things to overcome on our journey to transformation.

We all want to be in control, have all the answers, all the solutions NOW! When we don’t, we become anxious, we worry, and we get frustrated and angry. Many of us did feel this way, some on a daily basis. I didn’t know this back then but, today I realize we were acting out of fear instead of love!

During the 30 years of violence, many of us had lost hope. We had stopped believing and lost faith in our dream for Freedom. We were made to wait to build our trust and strengthen our faith. At times it felt like we were forgotten and abandoned. It was our fear; anxiety, worry, anger and frustration that kept us there for so long. The wisdom of our elders and their strong faith slowly spread amongst us all:)

“Don’t be afraid,” they kept saying, “God hasn’t forgotten us. He’s always been with us. Remember all he has done for us. Be patient! Learn to fully trust him and have faith.”

The shift began to happen when we all prayed patiently with faith!

Today, we are still made to wait longer. It is no secret that although Colombia has drastically changed, we have a long way to go in terms of progression and development. However, the major shift has opened opportunities for Colombians for a better quality of life. In pursuit of their dreams or opportunities, many were impatient with waiting. They were in a hurry to get a good paying job, have a nice house, a nice car, make money, etc. They wanted to have it all instantly. They began to worry and get uptight as soon as the wait became too long according to their timeframe (Ah! how soon we forget!). Many decided to take matters in their own hands and speed things up. Today, we are experiencing the consequences of our impatience with a huge separation among Colombians measured by status and class.

It’s great to take action towards pursuing your dream and take responsibility for your life. Waiting does not mean sitting in front of the TV and do nothing until something drops on your lap. In the wait, you must take action. What’s important is that your actions are not coming from a place of fear. It only leads to harm for yourself and for others. It leads to misery in your life and the life of others.

Another example is those who remained in a mediocre life by convincing themselves that there’s nothing more to aspire to. The truth is that they found a justifiable hiding place for their fears. It means they got discouraged and gave up in the wait. Many people preferred settling for mediocrity in life than face the fear of enriching their lives. Some tried, faced a few obstacles and when it didn’t happen as soon as they expected, they gave up. They went back to their good old ways, convincing themselves that their life was really not that bad.

Without going into details, and if you’ve been in Colombia long enough, you probably know what I’m talking about. Those who tried to hurry things up and acted out of fear, lost their true happiness and have identified themselves through their possessions and appearances; those who gave up, sit around and gossip about the neighbors.

Now, here’s the amazing outcome from developing patience and how it completely transforms our lives!

Those who waited patiently, kept their faith and acted out of love for themselves and others, found lasting happiness!
They truly savored and gained a profound appreciation and gratitude for everything they have.
They learned to cherish every moment of the day and treat it like a precious gift to learn and serve.
They did not stop being afraid. Their faith and patience has given them the strength and courage to move past their fears.
Their patience transformed any frustration or anger they had from the past into peace.
They still face struggles and hardships but, their patience draws them inwards towards a higher wisdom.

Building patience during the wait allows you to be less reactive to the waiting. It allows you to be more accepting, kind and loving to YOURSELF with the mistakes you make. It allows you to say, “It’s ok, I’ll keep trying. It’s gonna be ok.” It allows you to be present in any given moment and acknowledge that you don’t have control over every aspect of your life and accept it.

If you spend some time in silence and allow yourself to be still to just BE, eventually, you’ll release negative thoughts and emotion that make you act out of fear. You’ll begin to love yourself for who you are and your actions will come from a place of love. The single most transformative experience of all is the simplest act of loving yourself. To be able to truly love others and your life, you have to love yourself. Slowly, you’ll find yourself being patient with others. Imagine the amount of frustration and anger that will be released once you begin to be patient with others (laughing)! That’s a major life transformation right there.