The Garden: I want patience now

Yesterday morning just as I rushed into the building of where I work I tripped and fell on the stairs. It was embarrassing and painful but I was too much in a rush to get up and move on to shorten the humiliating moment.

Turns out later I had injured myself more than I had realised and ended up with an injection and now a ban on heels or standing for long periods well at least for the next three days. As I write to you I have my left leg elevated and write with very little support from my left wrist which still harbours some pain. However, I am really fine just the swelling and pain that causes discomfort. I have been in a pensive mode ever since I left the hospital, why was I rushing? I could have been more careful and avoided the incident. What’s done is done no use beating myself up about it and even though I fell inconvenienced, I do believe it is the universes way of saying “slow down Lerato” which inspired this week’s article on The Garden “I want patience now!”

How often have you heard the saying “patience is a virtue?” I hear that and I feel like hiding because I know that it’s one virtue I lack.

I am so impatient, with me everything has to be done fast and it has to be done good. I want the best quality in everything but I am not prepared to wait. I realise this is not something that started recently, it started way back from when I was a child.

In primary school, my extramural activity was tennis and sometimes it required me to stay behind until 5 in the evening. Between my Mom and Dad they would decide whose turn it was to pick me up, now with my Dad there was never a problem because he was always on time and by that I mean he would arrive at least 10 minutes before the time. With my Mother on the other hand, I had to first get to the gate (which was a 5 minutes’ walk) and still wait for about 10 minutes, at the most. I tell you during those 10 minutes, it would feel like a life time and believe you me I do not take that kind of waiting very lightly. Once she arrived I would make sure she knew that I wasn’t too pleased maybe through a frown or something, to a point that she got a speeding ticket at one time.

And so I wonder how many of you are like me? You want to get your hair done and even if you are a first time client at a new salon you want preference to get your hair done right away, no waiting. How about when you cook? How patient are you then? I cook on high heat, always 4-6, never bother with the rest and I cannot sit down until my pots are ready. Yes I will be standing, hanging around in that kitchen until it’s done. Same applies with the shopping, banking, traffic, etc. bottom line is Lerato just does not like to wait. I want it and I want it now! I look around and I tell you I’m not the only one.

I see it from the babies as well, they throw little tantrums. These little ones are so impatient even before they can walk or talk, some of them just don’t even want to crawl, they just want to jump up and start to walk. I want my breast milk and I want it now! I need a nappy change now! (I can just hear them) picturing my nephew’s frustration as he struggles to button his shirt at 12 months yes, in a hurry to be independent. He wants to feed himself, forget potty he wants to sit on the toilet bowl where everyone else goes. What is our world coming to?

Well, I suspect our world has started to embrace my stereotypes. Thank God for science and technology, today we no longer have to wait so much. We have services such as SMS or call a hairstylist, internet banking, cell phone banking, we have the microwave, instant food flip we even have instant umnqusho! And now as I sit here contemplating and thinking of settling down, getting married and having babies. Can I have an instant marriage, what of an instant baby? Can we just forget the process? Oh guys is there hope for me? Will I ever acquire this virtue called patience? I want to learn to be patient and I want it now!