"Good things come to those who wait"..... Hmmm

We’ve all heard the saying. Maybe from our Grandparents, who always have a cute wee meaningless moto to apply to every tough situation, or from our parents who want us to learn the art of patience.

I understand the idea behind it. If you hold on, aren’t impatient and continue to work hard and be a decent person, eventually the prize you’re after will be yours. Well, most of the time. It’s a saying designed to raise hope and spirits. To encourage perseverance and defeat doubt.

However, I cannot say I agree, on the whole, with this particular saying. As I said above, the truth is really that good things come to those who work hard, or at least do something other than the implied strategy of simply waiting.

I’m sure some of the people in the world perceived to be the luckiest had to do very little to obtain their good things, but most had to do lots. I think that, too often, we believe that things will be handed to us on a plate in exchange for patience and recently I’ve realised that, if everyone did nothing but wait, there would be no good things for anyone.

I’m not condoning rushing into every opportunity and demanding a positive result, hard work AND patience are required. In fact, patience is essential because, as another popular saying goes, “nothing happens overnight”.

But to only wait, and therefore fail to put effort into things seems to me to be greedy and undeserving. Surely we deserve what we earn!? Don’t get me wrong, I am the worst for waiting for things to come to me, instead of making an effort to aid their occurrence. But I guess that’s why I talk about these kind of subjects on this blog, to inspire myself as much as anyone reading.

So that guy/girl you like who hasn’t asked you out yet? Go ahead and strike up a conversation! That ability to play piano you begrudge your friend? Have a go practicing yourself! That part-time job you think you would be really good at? Hand in a C.V.!

“I’ll see what happens” is so easy to say, but the answer is nothing if you truly believe that “Good things come to those who wait”. Wait, sure. But that comes after. First, you’ve got to DO.