A family friend was once visiting my house and my little sister, who was probably no older than 5 at the time, was demanding something from them while they were in the process of getting her exactly what she was demanding. They looked and her and said “Patient is a virtue, virtue is a Grace, Grace is a little girl who doesn’t wash her face”. While Grace, who is now in College, probably doesn’t remember this specific instance, her cruel older siblings made sure the little ditty didn’t leave her memory – which clearly means I said it over and over.

While it was originally used merely as a means to silence and confuse a child by the use of eloquent language and literary devices, it has stuck with me for a while now. I now wash my face everyday!

What? I have a new sponsorship deal.

In reality, patience is crucial to have for almost anything you do in life. Good things generally don’t happen in an instant. I know the good old Bible says “knock and you shall receive” but it never says how many times you have to knock. That is where patience comes in.

I can assure you that patience is very often needed in football. The last two Guiseley AFC games were won with patience. We kept on knocking on the door, so to speak. The door being the stingy defensive efforts of Corby Town and Oxford City, our two most recent opponents. We won the games 2-1 and 1-0, respectively, and although we dominated most of the statistics – offensively that is – it wasn’t an easy task. Both games were won with second half goals.

In the first win, against Corby Town, the visitors managed to steal a goal against the run of play. We continued to get chances the entire game, which they were desperately throwing themselves in front of. Eventually, by patiently building up the pressure, we were able to get the two goals that we needed for the important victory.

You could say Oxford City set up specifically to test our patience. Fortunately, Guiseley passed the Oxford test, scoring the only goal of the game early in the second half. We were patient, but determined and literally bundled the ball over the line after numerous corners and scraps in front of the box. We certainly weren’t knocking gently, but we got the answer we needed at the time.

Barcalona, arguably the best club team the world has ever seen, are always patient on the ball. They pass and probe and knock, waiting for the door to open – or in their case, it’s more like they unlock the door. Another example would be Manchester United, who are famous for their late victories (see here and here). They have a belief that the late goal will come. The best teams know how to be patient, because they are confident that their knocking will be answered.

FYI: Some things might not be worth it!

For me personally, my success in sport so far has often come after patience. I started off as essentially a laundry boy who trained with the team in University, but was patient and eventually earned a starting position; ending my college days as a nationally recognized NCAA student athlete. I spent plenty of time on the bench at some of my other teams in the past, before becoming an integral part of the squad. I know that with patience, coupled with hard work, I am able to move forward. But it is patience with the confidence that if I keep knocking the door will be opened.

Let me also point out that patience is not always inaction. That is usually laziness – of which I am often guilty. Patience is positive action in the pursuit of a devious goal.

Patience is important in just about anything. I have some friends who are musicians, waiting for their big break. I have seen them knocking, knocking, and knocking, while patiently waiting for that door to open. The knocking comes in the form of hard, hard work for them. Fingers bleeding, eyes bloodshot, and bad hair day after bad hair day sort of work. Then they hear the scuffling behind the door and a glimmer of hope…they keep knocking, keep knocking. The sound fades, but they keep knocking, keep knocking. The patience and determination is eventually rewarded.

Not many people make it to a celebrity status within their field without this kind of patience and dedication. To maintain that status, the patience and dedication must remain as well.

I am waiting for Vizzini!

Patience is necessary for so many other aspects of life as well: waiting in lines, waiting for girlfriends(boyfriends), waiting for results, waiting for promotions, waiting for 5 o’clock somewhere, waiting for the weekend, waiting for summer, waiting for Vizzini, waiting for fast food (seriously?), and waiting for babies. Which brings me to the true inspiration behind this post: my cousin who is expecting her second child. Wait…what?

No but seriously, I asked her if there was any news? She said *sigh* “no, I’ve just had to wait patiently” *sigh*. I feel like waiting to have a baby might be something like waiting to throw up when you know it’s inevitable. You wish you didn’t have to feel so much worse and so vulnerable before feeling better. Anyway, I told her she was just being lazy and that the baby was just a devious goal that she was in pursuit of and that she needed to take more positive action.

After she cyber slapped me across the face, I realized that patience is really a huge part of our everyday lives and applies to so many areas. I knew that I could at least relate it to so many things that I have experienced, especially in football. So, this post is dedicated to my cousin Catherine and I wish her and her new baby girl the best!

If you have trouble with patience, it is important to remember that patience “is a Grace”. We can’t get Graces for ourselves, we need to rely on God for them. So, if you find yourself needing patience, ask him for it.

A few things of further interest:

I will be writing some articles for the team website which you may be interested in. Here is my first one. I will keep you posted on them in the future. They will be more soccer related.

We have also won 5-2 away at Bishop Stortford since my last post

Here are the links to a few local news stories for Guiseley:

Ruthless Streak all that’s needed

Keeping the pressure on

Cutting the Gap on Leaders

Lastly, next time you are waiting on one of my posts…be patient 😉

Till next time,

Seano!

PS: knocking with your head is not advised