GOOD THINGS DO NOT ALWAYS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT.
Where do we draw the line between patience and procrastination?
Endearing Musers,
In my twenty-something years of living-- however a short time to be dishing out words of wisdom-- I have come to stomach the fact that patience, the very one we dub "a virtue," and rightly so, more times than not is just another excuse for people to say "Hey, I don't think I can do this now" or "Let's wait for the right time."
I know this will spark quite a reaction and the tonne of you will beg to differ so I come bearing proof and a few stories to support my argument.
Patience has been described as the act of waiting when necessary until the right time before taking action and although this has landed so many people the "largest bone" or the shiniest or biggest rewards, it has on the other hand, rendered so many miserable and the futures of others bleak. As scary as this sounds, I fall victim so many times.
It is in fact one of the leading causes of the drop in productivity among creatives (a big bunch of which consist of writers)
For the very essence of this letter, I would like to share some stories-- however, note-- this is subject to varying interpretations.
A friend of mine (for the sake of remaining anonymous, let's call him X) once told me the story of a girl he liked in high school. Young love, we all know is a beautiful thing, but for X, it didn't turn out that way, at least not that time. He had shared how he felt about this girl with his best friend but the funniest thing happened afterward. Instead of going up to her and telling her how he felt, even after his best friend's advice, he decided to wait for when the time was right. Guess what transpired next?
Remember the friend who asked him to go up to her and tell her how he felt? That same one was dating her shortly after. I don't know what that says of that kind of friend (whether he was an overly ambitious friend, sincere in his feelings, or a snake) but the underlying moral to this story is that waiting doesn't always mean you get the good things.
During the annoyingly long eight-month strike, I traveled to the North and after a while, seeing that my Dad was always busy, I and my sister decided to go visit a friend of my Dad's for a week or two (this wasn't the first visit though)
Something then led to another and I had a falling out with her (that is, my Dad's friend) In some words similar to this, she said to my Dad "Jesse acts like an Americanah and refuses to eat my food." Seriously, in hindsight, I don't know why I overreacted and left her house some days later.
I wished I had left on better terms.
Fast forward to early this year, after a long time of saying to myself that I was going to call and say I was sorry for acting all ajebo-ish and refusing to eat her food, she passed on. 😞
I cried that night when Dad called and gave me the bad news because aside from the fact that we had a big fight then, I loved her very much. Even now, I still crave her jollof rice because no one cooks it the way she did. I was waiting for the right time to kiss and make up with someone I shouldn't be fighting with in the first place. Had she not died, she most probably would have been my stepmom. Don't ask me. Of course, I regret my actions every day. Every single day.
Please, never stall on something you could have done yesterday all in the name of "waiting for the right time." Do it now! There is never a right time.
Even now in my last year in Vet school, I still find myself struggling to draw a line between being patient about my career and outright procrastinating. Most times, it's a line that appears so blur to me.
Before my fifth year, I was on the verge of becoming the Best Graduating Student for my set. I was confident things would turn out for the better that I focused on other things; "waiting" for the right time to read my books while engaging in other extra-curricular activities. Guess who is struggling to make those A's that came so easily before? Guess who doesn't know where the breeze of academic uncertainty is taking him? Me.
This is because I chose to dance to the tune of procrastination when patience already sneaked out of the party long ago and I didn't realize it.
Even in business and stock (I am not an expert here), who told you it's better to buy a stock tomorrow and not today? Who is saying that because Bitcoin hit the US$ 65,000 mark yesterday (at the time I was writing this part of the letter) so tomorrow is the right time to buy when you have the money today?
Waiting for good things to come to us does not always turn out well. No wonder I find myself struggling to meet deadlines, finish my manuscripts, and even stay productive. I procrastinate and even when I say I am waiting, I get carried away and forget to stay alert.
Lately, a very good friend asked how we can beat procrastination and stay productive in the long run. I don't have an answer for her yet. Do you?
The bottom line is this; good things come to those who wait for about the required amount of time but for those who wait aimlessly, it doesn't always!
To stay ahead of the times,
Jesse. ❤️
This was a beautiful read. Good job Jesse.
Good things come to only those who work.