Patience. 

Be patient. 

Have patience. 

Recently, that is all I have been hearing from friends, family and significant others alike. To be patient. To wait out the storm. To have faith. 

What exactly does patience mean? 

Does it mean to be meekly accepting of all and any situation that is to arise in our lives? 

Or does it mean to stay quiet through your hard times ? To passively endure ? 

“Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of the process” – rule #8 from The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak. 

I’ve gathered that patience is not to sit on your hands or twiddle your thumbs while waiting for things to happen. 

Patience is not keeping quiet when it is better to speak. 

Patience is faith. Faith that no matter the outcome, you will be accepting of it. Patience is understanding the grand scheme of things, instead of letting that single moment in time overpower all else. Patience is faith and expectation that no matter what, everything that happens, happens for a reason; for the best reason. 

Patience is looking at the thorn, and seeing the rose. Looking at the night and seeing the dawn.