Buddha in his writings refers to the art of patience. So does Einstein much later in history when discussing his research insights. The topic has been on my mind for several days now and I was wondering how rooted it is in the minds of my surrounding community.

Patience as outlined in dictionary.com is defined as; "the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like…  steady perseverance, even-tempered ..."

In Wikipedia I found a more intriguing definition of patience; "In evolutionary psychology and in cognitive neuroscience patience is studied as a decision-making problem involving a choice of a small reward in a short span of time, or a more valuable reward after a long period of time."

To me, patience symbolizes maturity, experience, growth and time. To some extent, it reflects the natural path of life's teachings and life's rewards for our own investment in considerate thoughts, acclimation to a no-anger environment and deep belief in what's meant to be.

I know it sounds a bit heavy and philosophical but recently I have learned to increasingly appreciate and respect those who teach us to be patient. We live in a day and age where results, instant gratification and immediate outcomes are part of our every day language.

There is no time to wait. Time is money. What you can do now do not postpone until tomorrow… We all contend with these realities. As a result, many compromise on the quality of their websites, the depth of their relationships and tend to rush into financial obligations before they are ready. The tendency to act and react, to "give it back" is only too familiar in business, at home and in politics.

Most of the time listening and timing our own statements and reactions are not typical modes of behavior, at least where I come from.

At the risk of sounding too general I dare say, if there is one topic we could explore in greater depth and learn more about, it is the art of patience in modern life. As a martial artist, I was trained to handle physical reactions within the context of patience but I do not think I have done a good job adapting this skill to my personal life. Nevertheless, it's a learnable skill with tremendous room for growth and insights.

I hope you were "patient" in reading my short article and as before, I look forward to receiving your reactions.

Yoram Yahav
CEO