BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF....A MUST-READ PIECE BY ONE OF NEMERULEZ BLOG LOVERS, J'ODIE (SINGER , SONG WRITER)

Once upon a time, I and my dad were seeing a movie and he

highlighted something quite funny, but true. He said, "These

actors just

wake up and fight all day - they don't even shower, eat, work,

pay bills, but fight: worst of all, they almost never get tired."

That is a typical description of an average "action film".

Unrealistic as it is, many of us subconsciously have such

superhuman

expectations of others and even ourselves. We do not look

forward to planting, yet we want a bountiful harvest and we

want it

immediately too. Most people hate to toil, but want to be

celebrated. I must confess: I am one of them. I think it is too

early to claim

the expression "was one of them" on this issue, since I am still

un-learning this rather unfulfilling lifestyle. But this is not

just about

learning to love the work part of harvest, it is about learning

to have healthy expectations of one's self and others.

This takes me back to when I was a freshman in the university.

I admired those who knew how to type without looking at the

keyboard. I wanted to know how to do it, so I made a few

enquiries and found out I could learn from home with just a

training CD

and, of course, a laptop or PC. A friend gave me a trial version

of the training program on CD and I told myself I was going to

make

the very best of it.

Then the journey began: I remember starting with only

characters on the mid-row: 'a', 's', 'd', 'f', ';', 'l', 'k', 'j' - in

that order and with

specific fingers meant for each. It was a program and I was

willing to follow through. I practised the exercise for the period

I was

meant to do so. Then gradually, two more letters were

introduced and more were added in bits and bits, which took a

lot of time.

Honestly, I did not "feel" like I was learning anything. I

wanted to know how to type very fast and accurately and I

wanted it to

happen NOW (at that time). But whenever I had the urge to

skip and run ahead of the program, I reminded myself that I

wanted to

learn the skill properly and once learnt, it would be a valuable

skill that would have come to stay. So, I patiently followed

through,

even though I did not exactly enjoy the rather unseen progress.

One day, it struck me - I had made progress! I had started

typing a few words on average speed and that's when I

realised I had

been making progress each time I practised, even though I did

not feel it. This encouraged me to stick to the program much

more.

My little dream came through - at last. But since I used a trial

version, I did not learn all I would have - if I had used a full

version,

such as mastering the numerals... but that is a story for

another day ;)

I was patient with myself and learnt how to type properly,

after being diligent, in my own time.

It is true that some people have faster learning abilities, but

I'm sure there are some things you catch up faster than those

people

you secretly admit are more "intelligent" than you. How do you

even know they are more intelligent or efficient than you?

Sometimes,

our deductions are not accurate, so let us just focus on

OURSELVES. We have to always remind ourselves that we are

not competing

with anyone. While it is good to be inspired, learn how to draw

the line between "being inspired" and "being envious". If

inspiration is

a mango seed, when planted, it will grow into a mango tree,

then yield mango fruits in its season - no one will mistake it

for a corn

plant. And if envy is a corn seed...

Great things start small - so does great evils. Let's be wary of

what we plant in our hearts, so that we would enjoy its fruits in

the

end.

Though life seems to be more fast paced than ever before,

patience is still a virtue. Its tree yields healthy fruits on the

long run and it

lasts and lasts and lasts!

Insta/twitter handle: @JodieGreat