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The Art of Patience


With love and patience, nothing is impossible.

 by Michael Corthell  

Our way of life, in the western, industrialized world at least, involves a lot of instant gratification or 'instant living', and that gives way to a whole lot of impatience. We expect fast service, fast food and fast everything. These great expectations lead to increased stress which in turn leads to poorer health and unhappy lives. What is the solution? Patience.

''Genius is eternal patience.''
—Michelangelo

Saint Augustine said, ''patience is the companion to wisdom.'' Practicing, developing, and nurturing patience is a cornerstone to happiness, and living a more peaceful, well-rounded life.

Don't listen to what pop culture says.

“How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young?”
—Paul Sweeney

We live fast and sometimes die fast. Instant gratification. Society doesn't pay attention to patience. It wants us to do more right now. We have been conditioned to want to have more things right now.

With patience you shall have what you want.


''He that can have patience, can have what he will.''

—Benjamin Franklin

All successful people have developed a refined habit of patience.

Don't give up just yet.

''Patience is necessary, and one cannot reap immediately where one has sown.''
—Soren Kierkegaard



''It’s not that I’m so smart, 
it’s just that I stay with problems longer.''
—Albert Einstein


Our culture tells us to look for the quick fix. So it's easy to make the mistake of giving up to soon. Society tells us that the is normal thing to do. But what happens we just keep trying and don't take 'no' for an answer? You will achieve success!

Patience gives you the advantage.


“Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.”

—Thomas Jefferson

While other people lose their cool you have to remain cool and be patient. While others run in circles chasing their tails you become top dog.

Patience is a form of protection.


''Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will be powerless to vex your mind.''

—Leonardo Da Vinci

Your good patience means that wrongs or failure will not feel like the end of the world. They won't hold emotional power over you and force you to give up.

You have to build patience.

''Patience can't be acquired overnight. It is just like building up a muscle. Every day you need to work on it.''
 —Eknath Easwaran

''We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.''
—Helen Keller

With more practice comes more patience. Helen Keller says, ''life can teach you to become more patient. During the rough parts of life you often have no choice but to be patient.''

Lastly, being patient with yourself is number one.


''Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering you own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them every day begin the task anew.''

—St. Francis de Sales

Patience is critical to your personal development —your happiness and well-being. Things don't always go as planned. You will fail and people will fail you. It is part of the 'human condition'.

Developing patience will make you happier and healthier because you are no longer at the mercy of circumstance, you are sitting in the driver's seat in full control of your mind. Having possession and control of your mind is where true power resides. This power gives you the ability to handle anything that comes your way, with clarity of mind. That is the true value of patience.
___________________

Determination, Patience and Resolve


Amelia is a stroke survivor, a mother, a wife, and a fighter.

   ''After facing an extended hospital stay and full-on hemispheric paralysis with much cognitive loss, I have met 1,745 days of determining, morning, noon, and night, 8 days a week, to take up the battle to recover fully and to never give up. I come to TEDxIthaca College to share insights about the power of determination in recovery and in life. As a runner, cyclist, triathlete, and as a mother to two and a friend/ family member to many, I refuse to let the story of my life become one of despair and tragedy.  Rather, I insist that it become a story of determination, inspiration and achievement. Those are some ideas worth sharing.''

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