“Patience is a virtue.” Have you heard of this phrase and wondered what it means? Before we list why patience is essential, we must understand what virtue means.

A virtue is a sign of excellence or high standards. It enables one to improve the quality of something. Moral virtues are high-quality standards that make life better for the person. Some examples of moral virtues are courage, justice, and compassion—all of which help us grow spiritually as human beings.

Patience is part of this group of moral virtues because it teaches us important lessons. Here are some essential lessons we can learn from being patient:

1. It teaches us to appreciate the journey.

Starting a journey like a new career, hobby, or project requires a lot of commitment and patience. When we don’t have patience, we become less likely to treasure the growth and the lessons that come with it.

Going through a journey opens us up to new and unfamiliar experiences, which can be good or bad. Patience teaches us to appreciate both, even if we have yet to understand the lesson. Developing a habit of gratitude also keeps us optimistic in the face of challenges, thus making it easier for us to achieve long-term goals.

2. It enables us to appreciate hard work and perseverance.

Most moral virtues work in combination with others. In this case, learning to be patient also helps us appreciate hard work and perseverance during difficult times. When we become complacent and place convenience ahead of quality done through hard work, we become lazy and undisciplined.

3. It teaches us to be more grounded and realistic with our decisions.

When a person goes through a journey, they must prepare for all kinds of good and bad experiences. Experience teaches us what we should do the next time it happens again and enables us to become more creative.

When we develop patience as a virtue, we understand that certain milestones in our goals may not be achievable. Once we realize that, we find other solutions or work our way around it, thus, enabling us to be more grounded and realistic with our decisions.

Takeaway: Patience is a virtue but also a skill. Becoming patient involves allowing ourselves to be open to new experiences and embracing different obstacles. When we develop the value of patience, we become less anxious about obstacles and learn to appreciate things as they come.