Don't Let Impatience Kill Your Joy

Source : Eugene Loh, A Slice of Life, 938LIVE, a station of MediaCorp Radio

We live in a society which values speed and output. We focus on the destination and find the process of getting there an inconvenience. We're so obsessed with getting what we want that we find the waiting deplorable. It's not difficult to see just how impatient people can be -simply take a short drive or examine the frowning faces at a supermarket queue.

Why are we rushing? And why is waiting so insufferable? Is arriving so important that our journey is wasted on agonising over getting there? Will saving those few minutes of our day contribute to our happiness and well-being?

Impatience is a bane that takes a lot of fun out of our lives. When we're impatient, we become tense and edgy. We become so caught up with what we need to do or get done soon that we can hardly relax. When we're so anxious to get somewhere or finish something, much of our time is spent fretting, cursing and sighing. We fail to notice and enjoy the beauty of the journey, and spend our time fuming over a wait that could've been better spent on something else.

Waiting takes up a very big part of our lives. We wait for the bus, we wait for the lift, we wait for our turn at the clinic, we wait for the car to be repaired, we wait for our food to get done, we wait for our date to arrive, we wait for the light to turn green. Just imagine how much distress could be avoided if we could learn to take things easy and not focus so much on speed. Or spend our wait in more meaningful and beneficial ways.

The next time you're made to wait, perhaps your car is supposed to be ready by a certain time but it isn't, try focusing on a positive way to spend the time. Maybe you could notice details in your surroundings you would normally have ignored. Perhaps you could take a walk round the neighbourhood; you might see something you've never seen before. Or visit a shop; who knows what you might find. Or you could try reading something you wouldn't normally read. Chances are, you'll end up getting quite a bit out of the time that would have otherwise been wasted on fretting and fuming.

As Jean Paul Richter once said, "For no one does life drag more disagreeably than for him who tries to speed it up."

Bflygal's comments:
Hmm as usual, a timely arrived article. Just a few hours ago, my DM was commenting why a lady had to run across the road despite the red lights. Why couldn't she had waited for the next green man? Why do we always try to rush for the lights, the train, the bus, the food? Is life in Singapore that fast paced?

My DM told me this morning, a worker had met with a car accident while cycling. My work environment's main transport is bicycles. And cyclist are indeed more important than cars, namely because they ride with an attitude of "Hit me if you dare". That is why I sometimes avoid leaving office on time because these cyclists made driving uncomfortable.

I wonder is it the cyclist's fault or the driver's? Because these cyclist ride like how they ride in their hometown I guess. And in places like India, the traffic jam is so bad vehicles normally crawl. Thus if a car is crawling, there is no way it will ever hit a bicycle. Thus maybe the driver had been rushing too?

If you run past your life, you will never stop to appreciate what you had gone through and earned.