The Power of Patience
Patience has not always been my strength. In fact, for much of my life, I found myself growing frustrated whenever things didn’t move as quickly as I wanted them to. Waiting in line, sitting in traffic, or watching others struggle through something I could do faster all felt like wasted time. Over the years though, through both my personal life and my work as a teacher, I’ve come to understand patience as one of the most powerful tools we can practice. It changes the way we move through the world, the way we treat others, and ultimately, the way we treat ourselves.
I see impatience everywhere. At the grocery store, in traffic, and especially in public spaces where people are asked to wait even a few minutes, frustration often bubbles to the surface. I’ve watched customers sigh loudly, tap their feet, and even snap at cashiers over a brief delay. And yet, no amount of huffing and puffing makes the line move faster. If anything, impatience just heightens tension for everyone involved. These moments have shown me how often we let circumstances outside our control dictate our mood, and how much energy we waste by doing so.
Teaching has been my greatest teacher in patience. I work with pre-k students, which means I spend a lot of time helping children learn the most basic, yet important, skills… such as putting on their own shoes. Something so simple for adults can be a long and sometimes frustrating process for a three-year-old. Often, the students waiting in line to go outside become impatient with their peers who are still learning. They groan, complain, and try to rush the process along. I know how tempting it can be to step in, tie the shoe quickly, and move on, but I’ve learned that when we rush, we take away the child’s chance to practice independence. Patience in these moments gives children the space to grow, and it gives me the opportunity to model calmness and encouragement rather than frustration.
Through experiences like these, I’ve recognized that impatience is almost always rooted in a desire for control. We want things to go our way, on our timeline, without delay. Unfortunately for most of us, it rarely works like that. When I allow myself to become impatient, I only make the situation worse. The longer I dwell on what isn’t happening, the more negative my mood becomes, and the less able I am to respond with kindness or understanding. Over time, I realized how silly it was to let something as small as waiting in a checkout line or helping a student with their shoes determine how I felt for the rest of the day.
Choosing patience is about responding differently. When I start to feel that tightness in my chest or the urge to rush things along, I pause and remind myself to breathe. Sometimes I try to reframe the situation by considering what I can’t see. At the store, maybe the employee is new and doing their best to juggle multiple problems at once. With children, maybe the “slowness” I’m observing is actually valuable practice they need. This shift in perspective allows me to meet the moment with more compassion.
Patience is also a practice, something we can strengthen over time. I’ve found it helpful to use moments of waiting as small opportunities rather than frustrations. If I’m standing in line, I might take a moment to check in with myself, send a quick text to a friend, or simply notice what’s happening around me. If I’m tempted to rush a child through a task, I remind myself that growth takes time, and that giving them that time is one of the greatest gifts I can offer as a teacher. Above all, I try to release the need to control every outcome. Accepting that life won’t always move at my pace has made me calmer, happier, and more resilient.
The truth is, life is full of waiting. We wait for news, for healing, for opportunities, for clarity. Impatience will never speed that process up, but patience can transform how we experience it. It gives us room to breathe, to empathize, and to live with less frustration. When we practice patience, we make the world a little kinder.
