Why Patience Was the Mark of a Stronger Generation

Imagine if, instead of competing to overshadow and overspeak each other, out-rant and out-rave each other with modern hate, virtue signaling with non-virtue, we did the reverse. Imagine if – like generations back – we competed to see who could be more patient. Everything would change.

In my youth, WWII veterans were in their prime, many like that – restrained, self-disciplined, radiating character learned in adversity. I worked for them. The war was 25 years prior, memories still fresh. The war defined their generation.

What they did at war was summon courage to fight, kill, and end palpable evil. What they did back home was different. They had maturity. They were patient.

That generation – like some others before them – disdained impatience, did not want to be impatient, saw it as failing, a “lesser than” trait. Personal attacks and pettiness represented an embarrassing lack of discipline, a gap in character.

Of course, they were all for competition – in a healthy way. They competed at everything: sports, work, business, shows of physical, mental and emotional strength. Men and women of that era did tough things with resolve – and without complaint. They prevailed in adversity, and saw character in patience.

They knew that character was signaled by restraint, faith in higher things, tolerance for fools without judging or demeaning them. They often had an other-regarding outlook. They had lived through so much adversity that impatience was childish.

So, imagine returning to those days, transporting ourselves back there. Imagine winners in society, the cultural heroes, ones admired most, were not those who shouted loudest, insulted, lied, and obscured truth easily, but those who did the opposite, those who listened best, thought hardest, and were most patient.

Here is it then, the bottom line up front: It can be done. Society can be retooled toward competition by patience, a contest each day to see who can be most patient, stronger in temperament, more mature, not silent but engaged at a sane pace.

To those who say it will never happen, some historical perspective: It has happened. When a people go through enough, they grow up. They mature. They regain self-discipline; with it, self-respect; they appreciate, respect, and act with calm. When they really know freedom’s value, they mature and change.

The WWII era did that. You can recall or read about their character. We need to do that. Let’s try competing to be more patient, outdoing each other in self-discipline.