Is Patience a Virtue?

I wondered aloud the other day about Patience. I felt that as an educator I would have personal knowledge of the necessity of this fine virtue passed down through time. They've been saying it forever, it must be true. And maybe it is. One thing I realized, as an educator am I the most senior representative of the Patience club? Of course not. Patience is practiced by us every single day. Out of all the virtues, known and forgotten, it has to be virtue most woven into our daily lives.

Patience is spread all around us. As equally successful as Patience is, sister Impatience has become a rival to be reckoned with. We practice impatience on a daily basis too. Do we seek a balanced diet of Impatience and Patience? Or, control of the virtue? We would always side with Patience because it's the only virtue here really. As important as Impatience is in our everyday life, it's not a virtue. If I'm going to practice something, it should be virtues.

Which begs the next question. Well, who says virtues are to be practiced and who decides if they're practiced well enough or to some success indicator? Isn't mastering them not thinking about it everyday? I mean, we are who we are. Is Patience the most important virtue? Is it a virtue at all? Is it woven, itself, into other virtues? Questions, questions, lets get some answers.

Some would argue that Patience isn't a virtue and should be spelled with a lowercase p. The four virtues known commonly among man are: Justice, Courage, Wisdom and Moderation. This, in and of itself, is up for debate as well. Others believe: Fortitude and Justice, Temperance, Prudence. Nowhere is Patience mentioned? I thought though, "patience is a virtue." I've heard that all my life. Really believed it. Well, maybe I can make patience one of my virtues. I mean, I've been practicing it a long time and would hate to give up on it! I want credit for practicing it somehow, I don't know how. Possibly give me credit towards another virtue. Transfer of virtue credit would be the answer.

Before I lead you down the road of making a mockery of virtues, which ones are important, what gets to be a virtue, think about your virtues. What virtues do I practice? I thought I was practicing one but I just found out it wasn't a virtue. Can I get credit towards another virtue? I wonder if I'm practicing virtues and didn't know it? Is trying not to cry everyday I go to work a virtue? Would that be temperance? Can I get credit towards temperance?

In the end, what do we do? I want to create a poll that shows some definitive answers. Then my poll data will be interpreted as the Definitive Virtue Data or dvd. Not to be confused with the other dvd which, well, we all know what a dvd is. Do we have our own virtues? Or, "Our virtues are defined by our faith." Once the results pour in I will tabulate the winner. There are only winners when it comes to virtues. So, keep practicing Patience and who knows, maybe you'll get credit for it one day.