Let me sit down with my mind today, talk to it, love it, and accept it as gently as I would a toddler learning to trot. Would a mother scold her child for not running right away instead of trotting? Patience allows me to savor every moment of life. Everyone around me is on their unique journey, progressing at their own pace and in their own time.

Imagine if my parents had been impatient and stopped teaching me just because I held a pencil crookedly or lost my scales and sharpeners at school multiple times. How patient is God? What personal gain does He have in reminding His children about their true selves hundreds of times a day? Does He say, “Go and refer to what I told you last week. Don’t bother me again and again”?

Does He ever think, “Why should I explain the same idea to you repeatedly? Can’t you understand it once?”

As I focus on cultivating patience, the question arises: whom should I emulate? How about Mother Earth? I can only imagine the extent of endurance and patience she must exhibit. If I were in her place, I might have reacted by angrily confronting those who overused fields and deforested lands, leaving wildlife to struggle on highways. Yet, despite the extreme suffering she endures, she continues to give silently.

Patience is not merely enduring as a favor; it is a virtue that springs from within. I need to reflect patience in my actions and not let it become dormant due to lack of use.

To measure where we stand on the scale of patience, let’s take a mock test:

• Stand in a long queue at the mall or bank counter and observe the thoughts that arise while waiting for the cashier to handle transactions.
• Notice the thoughts that come up when a large file is not downloading because of buffering internet.
• Navigate through a crowded local train and observe your feelings when a mother with a wailing child blocks the doorway just as your station arrives.

There are undoubtedly many more situations that might test your patience. Feel free to explore and reflect on these moments as you work on developing your own patience.