PATIENCE YOU CAN’T SEE
Social media has reduced our attention span to -3 seconds while at the same time, it has increased our expectations by showing how “perfect” and “attainable” everybody else’s lives are. As a result we have become an overall impatient culture.
Nobody is patient and nobody wants to be. They all want “21 day six packs” and “overnight success,” and even apps like Tinder, Uberand GrubHub keep reinforcing that everything should be now. Truth is, there is no such thing. Even in today’s day the old adage “nothing worth having comes easy” is still absolutely true. If it wasn’t true, we’d all be fit, happy and living the life of our dreams after using a few apps and reading a couple of listicles.
People who can see the bigger picture will point out that the lack of commitment, discipline and execution are to blame. I think it’s the lack of patience. Or is it?
Every first week of January most people hit the gym for 4–5 days a week. They bust their butts and after each workout they lift their shirts to see if their six-pack starts to show. The second week they go 2–3 times because they’re busy. Still no six pack. By the third week they go 1–2 days. Still no visible difference. Most people gives up by the first month. The reason why most people do this is because they can’t be patient enough to stick to a challenging habit for enough time without seeing results right away. Most valuable things in life are this way. You will only see results over time.
What if I told you that you’re using that kind of patience right now without realizing it?
The definition of patience that I like is: “steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity.” You might say you’re not patient and you might show it with the lack of results towards some of your life goals, but you’re patiently tolerating that life you hate. You patiently cruise your by your day to day. You patiently go to work, at the place you hate, everyday. You patiently see yourself gaining weight everyday. You patiently comply with your obligations just waiting for the weekend (or vacation) to come. You patiently sit for hours watching Netflix. Think about it. It requires patience to tolerate a less than ideal life, and to give up your dreams while carrying on. That is the patience you don’t see. Maybe you aren’t patient at the things you really want because all your patience is already used up on your meaningless day by day. You’re burnt out and have nothing to show for.
Sadly, I don’t have a list of “how to kickstart your dream life and get at six pack.” The only piece of advice I have is that it’s up to you where you allocate your energy and your patience. So you might as well take a leap of faith and JUST DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. That way you can actually say you’re not patient, because you’re not tolerating things you don’t like and you’re taking action towards the things that mean something to you. So go out and get that life. I’ll find you out there.
