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Be Patient!
Patience is a virtue. Good things come to those who wait. Patience is the key to success. I’m sure you have probably heard at least one of those sayings before.
Patience is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as the ability to wait, or continue doing something despite difficulties, or to suffer without complaining or becoming annoyed.
So why is patience so important that people have a lot to say about it? For one thing, with patience, you can turn your interests and talents into achievements. To become really successful or to master something, you may need to make a continuous effort for a long time.
Two pieces of advice that I always hear successful people give are: be patient and work hard. Those two things usually go hand in hand. Bill Gates didn't create Microsoft in a day. Oprah Winfrey didn’t become a household name in a day either. It even took Thomas Edison about a thousand attempts to make the lightbulb. Now, look where they all are: Bill Gates is now one of the richest people in the world. Oprah Winfrey now has a net worth of $2.7 billion, her own talk show and her own network. And Thomas Edison is known as the first person to invent the lightbulb. Without patience, they would have given up at the first sign of trouble or opposition and never became who they are recognized to be today.
So if you are working on anything now or facing a particular challenge, don’t give up because who knows? In twenty years, someone could give a speech like this but with your name in it!
I myself have struggled with overcoming impatience. About two years ago, right before the 2016-17 Stanstead school year started, my student visa hadn’t arrived. It was a very nerve-wracking period of time for my family, especially for me and my sister Ella. The wait that we expected to last for a few days turned into weeks, then months, until I had little hope that I would ever come to this school. I was tasked with the seemingly impossible endeavour of waiting. Day after day I was told by my parents, “Be patient.” Did I listen? No, I didn’t, but I should have. Instead, I spent my time moping and shutting myself off from others and just being plain old grouchy. If I had listened to them, I would have been able to accomplish a lot like trying out a new hobby or learning how to ride a bike (because at 15, I still do not know how to properly ride a bike). If I had been more patient, I would have been able to open my mind to so many possibilities that weren’t limited by my not going to Stanstead at the time I expected.
I learned a lot about patience because of my situation, and luckily for me, I had a happy ending. Here I am at Stanstead College, standing in front of all of you giving a speech, the same school I didn’t think I would be able to attend. Unfortunately, not many people can say their story ended on as happy a note as mine did. Being young, we are all fortunate. We can start now to choose to be patient when obstacles arise and work hard to overcome them. Or we can choose to be sad and mope when things don’t go our way. I really hope you choose the former. Remember, the very best things in life are worth waiting and striving for, because then you cherish them the most.
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So why is patience so important that people have a lot to say about it? For one thing, with patience, you can turn your interests and talents into achievements. To become really successful or to master something, you may need to make a continuous effort for a long time.
Two pieces of advice that I always hear successful people give are: be patient and work hard. Those two things usually go hand in hand. Bill Gates didn't create Microsoft in a day. Oprah Winfrey didn’t become a household name in a day either. It even took Thomas Edison about a thousand attempts to make the lightbulb. Now, look where they all are: Bill Gates is now one of the richest people in the world. Oprah Winfrey now has a net worth of $2.7 billion, her own talk show and her own network. And Thomas Edison is known as the first person to invent the lightbulb. Without patience, they would have given up at the first sign of trouble or opposition and never became who they are recognized to be today.
So if you are working on anything now or facing a particular challenge, don’t give up because who knows? In twenty years, someone could give a speech like this but with your name in it!
I myself have struggled with overcoming impatience. About two years ago, right before the 2016-17 Stanstead school year started, my student visa hadn’t arrived. It was a very nerve-wracking period of time for my family, especially for me and my sister Ella. The wait that we expected to last for a few days turned into weeks, then months, until I had little hope that I would ever come to this school. I was tasked with the seemingly impossible endeavour of waiting. Day after day I was told by my parents, “Be patient.” Did I listen? No, I didn’t, but I should have. Instead, I spent my time moping and shutting myself off from others and just being plain old grouchy. If I had listened to them, I would have been able to accomplish a lot like trying out a new hobby or learning how to ride a bike (because at 15, I still do not know how to properly ride a bike). If I had been more patient, I would have been able to open my mind to so many possibilities that weren’t limited by my not going to Stanstead at the time I expected.
I learned a lot about patience because of my situation, and luckily for me, I had a happy ending. Here I am at Stanstead College, standing in front of all of you giving a speech, the same school I didn’t think I would be able to attend. Unfortunately, not many people can say their story ended on as happy a note as mine did. Being young, we are all fortunate. We can start now to choose to be patient when obstacles arise and work hard to overcome them. Or we can choose to be sad and mope when things don’t go our way. I really hope you choose the former. Remember, the very best things in life are worth waiting and striving for, because then you cherish them the most.
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