Where is that Patient dog?

According to a popular proverb they say the patient dog eats the fattest bone but I say the patient dog waits so long sometimes the fastest bone isn’t enough (but it is better than none). As a Nigerian that I am, there are many incidences we experience daily which discredit this proverb and cause you to seat down and think twice, probably even get mad at yourself and whatever made you believe that patience would work for you. This virtue is tested every day, at the market place, while using the ATM, or even waiting to use the convenience at a restaurant or the saloon. Do you ever pass these tests? I guess we all know that the more you pass your tests the better you get in that subject and the more confident you will be in that field but even when you fail, it is not enough to give up cos trust me, there’s another test just right there waiting for you to take it. I want to let you in on a little secret…Patience births courtesy.

They are not the same thing, but they go hand in hand, an impatient man cannot be courteous enough to open the car door for a lady before going round to open the door for himself (you wan kill am?). Now look at it this way, while waiting in the midst of a group of people to be attended to, your patience is usually taken for granted or makes you go unnoticed while the “sharp” ones who came after you leave right before your very eyes with what you have been waiting for; that can be very annoying and you may want to pick up a fight but for courtesy sake. Imagine with me for a moment that you are at the bus stop in Lagos at the close of work (you know how it is during rush hour) and after over 30 minutes of waiting a BRT finally arrives then people begin to struggle. Also note that there’s a pregnant woman with another baby on her back, letting her in before you would mean that you have lost your chance to enter the bus, will you be courteous (patient) enough to let her in or would you just flex your impatient muscles on her? And if yes, what will be your “Fat bone”? Maybe a ride from Governor Fashola’s Convoy? Oh no I get it now, it will be 2 more hours of waiting and then getting home at an ungodly hour with every part of your body aching and not enough time to rest, that’s the only bone such a person would get but if you ask me, the show of courtesy to that pregnant woman is enough satisfaction. I read a letter that was written to me from my father, he told me that patience is a virtue, a fruit of the spirit and I believed him. The only problem is I only apply this virtue to spiritual things i.e. when I have prayed for something; I patiently wait to receive the answer because he says no matter how long it takes, he will never fail me. It’s like being on the queue, only difference is the one who is attending to this queue never gets tired, neither does he run out of the resources. So why isn’t my patience well rounded? Why is it only limited to the spiritual things? Maybe it’s because of the system I find myself in, where corruption has taken over the course of the day and things are done by Who knows who not who deserves what. People have lost faith in “Patience” because only a credible person can tell you to exercise patience and you can take his word to the bank, ironically even ladies who bear patience don’t have any of it.

 
I’ve heard stories of ladies who didn’t think their boyfriends to be credible so despite their saying “just hold on babe, I will marry you”, they threw his promise and the love they shared away just to marry someone else and end up regretting. There are also stories of people who despite promises of greatness from God (the most credible/reliable one), they chose the impatient path, to make wealth through evil means and ended up losing their lives in the process. In Contrast, there’s also a man whose life was saved from an accident due to his patience and on a lighter note, there is Annie Macaulay and LolaOmotayo who after many years and kids outside wedlock were able to get their hearts desire. Looking at both contrasts I would ask again, Where is that patient Dog that would eat the fattest bone?  I choose to work on mine to make it more rounded as touching every aspect of my life; Say ‘Aii’ if you are one too because slowly but surely, that fat bone must get to us.