Writers 
Our generation might produce more unsuccessful people due to one factor. We are indeed a smart and lucky generation, but without kidding ourselves, we have produced more irresponsible and self-centred individuals. Part of the contributing factor to this is innovation in all aspects of life. This innovation, without hesitation, has made life better and more convenient, but on the downside, has produced more impatient individuals. I am not anti-innovation, but I am sure we are aware that with every advantage come little or many disadvantages. Impatient, that is today’s content.
I was watching a video; it was about Hop Aero. They designed “Rook”, a rocket designed for point-to-point cargo delivery. (Just imagine it as a rocket-powered cargo vehicle. Instead of using an aeroplane, truck, or ship to deliver urgent cargo hundreds of kilometres away, they designed a rocket to deliver it faster). It is designed to deliver packages 5X faster than the speed of sound. Might be one of the best innovative logistics evolutions. So if the cargo ship takes a month, this might deliver your package to you within 90 minutes. Imagine if Amazon purchased this company. The company itself has secured a $1.25 million contract from the U.S. Air Force; imagine how beneficial it will be in times of war, which is by the way. My Point here is you really don’t have to wait months for what you need.
While I was watching and checking the company out, I started thinking about not only the benefit of this, not just the convenience and comfort it brings alone, but also the negative psychological impact it might have in our lives. Let’s look into our academic settings in today’s world. There has been a decline in the use of the library, for instance; unlike before, when you just had to make use of the library to make research for your assignments or personal studies. If you have ever used a library, you will see how difficult and time consuming it might be looking for information, compared to now, where you can easily question your phone. But I promise you, those generations that experienced that learnt some lessons that we miss; they learnt how to patiently search for information. It might take time and effort, but one thing they understand is that with careful, orderly and organized patient, the answer is available. And this is part of the reward for them; when they are seeking for information, they stumble on other valuable information that might not instantly be relevant, but is added to their mental library. No wonder they are brilliant, patient and more resourceful than us. Unlike us, we enjoy the internet era; Google already has the answer even before you ask. As if Google is not fast enough, AI suggest a better solution to every problem now. Effective, fast, precise, efficient. It solves most problems that you can imagine: academics, business, financial, family crisis, health, agriculture, nearly every day life. Most people reading this probably question AI, averagely two to three times in a day. You don’t even have to read through long pdfs; just find the right AI tool to upload it and, within seconds, the summary is there. Just ask anything; in seconds the answer is there, copy and paste, your research is ready. Is that not amazing?
I remember how old people comment on how they walk to rivers and streams nearby to fetch water. I'm guessing that nearby might be 1–2 km, or maybe 3-5 km, or more, depending on where you are staying. Can you imagine how patient you have to be walking to the river, and how patiently you need to walk back so your water does not pour away? Gradually, we evolved to wells around each neighbourhood. If you are late, you have no option but to wait till the people before you are done fetching; no matter how hasty you are at the moment, you just have to wait patiently. Now I guess everybody has running water inside their house now, you don’t even have to go out seeking water. Again am not an advocate for labour or suffering; I cherish comfort.
Look how easy it is for us to contact people without stress; just a dial, you are already talking to someone far away from you, someone you would have sent a letter to before and patiently waited for months or even years before you got a reply from. How about transportation? We all hear or witness all this beautiful evolution around transportation, how they have transformed and improve our standard of living.
One thing you can’t deny now is how impatient we have all become, how much we want instant results and instant gratification. We don’t want to wait for a steady, slow, and growing process any longer. Our daily use of advanced innovations has tricked our psyche into believing that we can get instant results always. Imagine how advancement in science as influence our agriculture sector. I mean, you really don’t have to wait for 6 to 7 month for your traditional chick to grow to the consumption stage when you can easily get a modern broiler that will be ready within to 2-3 month for consumption.
That is why it’s difficult to preach delay gratification to anyone in this generation. Everything that surrounds us happens so fast and instantly; we ask, and we receive. Most of the basic things we want happen fast, and when it comes to real-life activities, we want it fast; we want success fast. We want to study now and be smart like someone we saw on social media. We want to learn a skill now and be a pro like our mentor and, in a few days, start making money. We want to graduate instantly and secure a high-paying job. We want a flawless marriage, expect perfection from others even when we ourselves admit that we are not perfect.
This lack of consistent patience is reflected in all aspects of our life, and it is not just affecting our personal life alone, but creating a mediocre and foundationless society. We have NO or Low liberal fighters in our generation. Why? We really can’t wait that long like Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years of his life in prison, roughly around 50 years, fighting for freedom not just for himself but for others. Most of the liberation movements in Africa were organised strategically and patiently worked towards. But in this generation we lack the courage to wait patiently; we complain, adapt and ignore. In most cases, we patiently wait for others to help.
All we have benefited from this lack of patient, as being lustful and vague wishes, and no will to do something admirable and reasonable for our next generation. Just imagine if the past generation had neglected things the way we are; can you guess what our life would look like today? But they have patiently fought for a reasonable life for us, maybe not the best. But before you decide if something is good or bad, I guess you should have tried or done something reasonable. Critics are not meant for complainers; it is only for the constant and patient doers.
Maybe I have been unable to analyse my point perfectly, but my point is simple, patient is a virtue and, unlike other virtues, it has to be intentionally cultivated. The reason for the intention is this: we live in a fast pace world, where everything is constantly evolving, and this change teaches us to act fast, thereby neglecting our virtue of patient. The advancement of science and technology has tricked us into believing that everything that is not in the moment or granted instantly is not real, so we rather opt for better today than a better tomorrow. This has affected nearly all aspect of our life: the job we opt for, the course we study, the group we belong to, the food we eat that later affect our health, the spouse we opt for, our beliefs and philosophy that shapes our life and many others.
Just like we are acquiring skills and educating ourselves, learning that digital or Tech skill, learn and cultivate the habit of being patient. Let us learn how to stay calm in the midst of noise and distraction. Not all lookalike opportunities are perfect, but you can only discern when you are patient. “Only a still eye with patience can see its nose”.
Let’s not join those who try to modernize the saying of the “Patient Dog”. Am not asking you to cross your arms without doing anything, all in the name of patience. Work, and on your journey, learn to stay put, calm and stay. Don’t berate or hate yourself if it is slow; just figure out if you are doing the right thing and be patient.
