The Extinction of Patience
Patience is the quality of being willing to wait if necessary; to persevere even when results aren’t immediate.
Nobody is patient nowadays — and for good reason. We want the economy to work faster for us, we want results immediately, and we want success overnight. But still…
In the world of today, patience is hard to come by.
They used to say, “The patient dog eats the fattest bone.”
Now, they say, “The patient dog gets no bone at all. It’s all gone — especially since the early bird has taken it all.”
But let’s be clear: I’m not advocating for laziness, sluggishness, or procrastination. I’m talking about the value of waiting for things to work, of trusting a process rather than forcing an outcome.
A World That Encourages Impatience
Modern society is not built for patience. We want what we want and we want it NOW.
We have Amazon Prime for same-day delivery, express checkouts, instant messaging, and AI-generated content that produces entire articles in seconds. Even entertainment is now consumed in hyper-speed — movies and shows are sped up to 1.5x so we can “get through them faster.”
Am I saying we should return to an era where everything took forever? No. Faster processes have their advantages. But at what cost?
These systems are training us to expect instant gratification in every aspect of life.
Instant coffee.
Instant noodles.
Instant fame.
Instant weight loss.
Instant success.
We no longer have the patience to build, to cultivate, to endure.
The Disappearance of the Waiting Process
Consider nature — no matter how much technology advances, crops still take time to grow.
Pregnancy still lasts nine months.
A tree doesn’t become strong overnight.
Yet, we are losing patience with even these natural rhythms.
Children are no longer allowed to be children. They want instant adulthood. And we don’t help — parents and society push them toward independence so quickly that childhood is treated as an inconvenience rather than a phase of growth.
We don’t want to patiently master a skill — we just want to “figure it out” in days and be called an expert.
We no longer have the patience to sit with a book and learn from the wisdom and experience of others. Instead, we rush into experiences, make unnecessary mistakes, and then call it “learning from our experience.”
The Consequences of Impatience
This extinction of patience has deeper consequences than we realize.
In Relationships: Friendships, marriages, and business partnerships fail quickly because we lack the patience to nurture and work through challenges.
In Careers: People quit jobs and switch fields impulsively because they don’t want to endure the growth phase.
In Mental Health: Anxiety is on the rise because we can’t sit still long enough to process emotions or wait for healing.
Ironically, in our rush for instant results, we often make life harder for ourselves. The quick fix rarely lasts. The rushed success often crumbles. The shortcut usually leads to a dead end.
A Case for Bringing Back Patience
We need to reclaim patience — not as an excuse for inaction, but as a discipline of trust and endurance.
Let’s relearn the beauty of process.
As a good friend of mine says, “Everything good will come.” It always comforts me. The word “will” signifies the passage of time — it may not happen immediately, but it will happen.
Not everything good comes instantly. Some things take time, and that’s okay.
Let’s practice deep work. The best skills, the best careers, the best relationships are built over time, not overnight.
Let’s value waiting — not as passive idleness, but as active patience — the kind that trusts, prepares, and grows, anticipating the right moment, like a fisherman casting his line or a hunter poised for the perfect shot.
Because sometimes, waiting doesn’t mean you’re losing. It means you’re building something stronger.
Patience isn’t extinct yet. But if we don’t fight for it, it just might be.
