Tolerate no more than one time… be patient every time….
Patience is a virtue… and you will be expected to be patient every time! At home with your children… your siblings… your parents… your spouse… your relatives; at work with your co-workers… your direct reports… your boss; while in the traffic; at airports; while waiting for your turn at the clinic… at the license office… at the movies; in life… for getting what you desperately want… for what you need….
You must be patient… either because you have no choice, or because the alternative can make things ugly for everyone!
If you are in a position of authority, you might have a choice and you must show restraint…. and when you are in a position of weakness… of submissiveness… you have the option to remain silent, for resistance may be futile or render your position further compromised…. And if you are on equal footing, show patience… else your impatience might destroy your relationship!
Any which way… patience is good… patience always helps… it wins you respect and makes you honorable! At a minimum, it helps preserve your sanity….
But do not mistake tolerance for patience…. and definitely not patience for tolerance!
Tolerance is not good at any level beyond the one time when you must be tolerant….
Tolerance is to someone acting or doing things in a manner that is not acceptable! It is when someone does something wrong that you have to choose to tolerate or to take counter measures!
Tolerance assumes that you are in a position of strength, or that you have some immunity built up to support your retaliatory action… else you end up appearing childish!
When someone does something wrong, he must be punished! In most cases, it may be alright to give him a second chance… and at a personal level, giving a second chance is good… after all, mistakes do happen and we want to believe that people want to be good… they do change!
If however, you are expected to put up with similar situations again and again and exhibit tolerance… Don’t! It is not good for anybody!!!
The purpose of patience is to yield results… to keep things positive!
Tolerance is to give someone one chance more….
Let’s be very clear about this… Giving multiple chances will never amount to magnanimity…. It is your weakness! No problem has ever been fixed by exhibiting tolerance with no sanctions….
Be patient….
And as for tolerance… know where to draw the line… And do draw that line and stand by it! In the long run, this will be your mantra for success at what ever you do!!!
