Patience, as a Virtue

Teacher III

Bataan National High School – Senior High School

We become excited about life events, angst-ridden when they are about to start, and impatient when we desire to be gratified if satisfaction is delayed, or at worst, denied.

Such is human nature, the natural reaction to be impatient when physiological needs are not addressed. Our psychological needs also require attention although delays are somewhat tolerable and denials can be written off as experience shapers.

Patience, as a virtue, varies from one person to another. It has a lot to do with one’s urgency for a need to be satiated, the accumulated experience in one’s existence, and the wisdom possessed through lessons learned in life.

The proverbial ‘Patience IS a virtue,’ has been used for many right and wrong reasons. If an impatient child is told that patience is a virtue, he or she has to be taught what patience is all about, why there is a need to be patient for things and what are possible rewards in return for patience.

The understanding of how patience becomes a virtue would greatly depend on the child’s maturity thus in order to grasp the concept it must be explained at a level that he or she would readily comprehend.

For a parent, a teacher or a superior who are patient enough with children, students and subordinates, patience is an everyday virtue.