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�THE SEA does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach waiting for a gift from the sea�. Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Achieving success in any area of life is not a onetime event. It is a journey and there is a period of waiting before success can be reached. Experience has shown that those who cut corners in their desperate desire to reach their goals rather fail and get terribly disappointed. The goals you set cannot be reached overnight; you need to be patient as you vigorously pursue your heart�s desires. Patience and hard work are essential elements of success in life. Take for instance farming. Between planting and harvesting, a lot of work has to be done. The farmland must be cleared and viable seeds planted. The farmer has to take good care of the young plants. This will involve watering and clearing of weeds. He will need to apply fertilizer or manure to get high yields. It is all joy and happiness when harvesting time comes. There are no quick fixes in life. Life is a gradual process which must be followed. One of the qualities of successful people is their uncanny ability to be patient while working toward goal accomplishment. Patience is a universal virtue which you need to build into your life for real success. Impatience can ruin your life. The story of Saul and his impatience is recounted here to guide you and me. Saul was the first king of Israel. It was during his reign that the Philistines terrorized the Israelites. The Israeli army was poorly equipped and they had no fighting experience. They could not match the Philistine Army which was well quipped, well trained and very well experienced. The Israelites felt insecure with frequent attacks by the Philistine Army. The attacks led some Israelites taking cover in caves, wells and thickets. The prophet Samuel who was the spiritual leader at the time promised to come and make an important sacrifice and ask for God�s guidance before Israel could engage its arch enemy, the Philistines in battle. Saul and his soldiers waited but Samuel the prophet did not show up to make the sacrifice. They became restless. Saul became impatient and said he would make the sacrifice himself if Samuel did not come. He wanted to do this to calm his soldiers who were restless and lived in fear. Jonathan his eldest son advised Saul against that decision but he would not budge. He went ahead to make the burnt offering to God. The prophet arrived when Saul had finished with the sacrifice with smoke rising from the altar. Samuel interrogated Saul on the issue and the following ensued between them: �The people were leaving because you were not here. And the Philistines are getting closer. I had to do something.� said Saul. �You have made a big mistake,� said Samuel. �Instead of waiting patiently and obeying God�s commandments, you have taken things into your own hands. Your fear was bigger than your faith.� He added, �If you had obeyed God, then he would have given you and your family the reign over Israel forever. But now your descendants will not inherit the throne. God will choose someone else to lead his people.� After this the prophet went home. Saul and his soldiers became demoralized. His army was ill equipped compared to the Philistine Army which was larger and well equipped. Saul and his army became overwhelmed with despair. Impatience has consequences. Saul had ruined his life and his family�s future. Remember delay is not denial. Sometimes God does not respond to our petitions expeditiously as we would expect. God hears our prayers but he does not answer at our will but his. We must therefore learn to be patient. Impatience shows a lack of trust and faith in the LORD. Impatience will cause you to make wrong decisions with serious consequences as was the case of Saul. In conclusion, impatience may ruin your life. Learn to be patient as it is one of the ingredients of success. Remember that there are no quick fixes in life. Guard your heart against impatience. With patience you will get there.