He looked at the clock, looked at the screen, and then looked back at himself, as if his eyes could drive the banking system to operate faster for a few seconds. Nothing happened. She, the person behind, started swiping the phone, while he stared intently at the screen and waited...
Life, if you look closely, turns out to be full of "ATM" moments: You have done enough steps, pressed the right button, stood in the right place, but the result is still being... processed. He once believed that as long as you try, everything will come on time, just like rice cooked in enough hours will cook. But life is not an electric rice cooker. There are things that the more impatient, the longer it takes, the more you check, the less complete they are.
She believes in progress. She has a list of things to do, a schedule, and color notes classified according to the level of importance. She believes that if she persists a little every day, everything will be resolved satisfactorily.
But that belief was once challenged when she pursued a new job, submitted her CV countless times, edited it, updated it many times, and then received back all polite rejection emails. Sometimes she thought maybe she should stop, but then some internal urge made her continue.
He is also the type of person who is easily discouraged but also easily starts over. He abandons many things halfway, from learning guitar to the plan to jog every morning. But strangely, there are things he abandons, and then comes back, not because of great passion, but just because he is not determined. He does not believe in miracles, he believes in repetition. Repeating enough, whether slowly or clumsy, will create a trail.
She once laughed at him when he said it was probably not the right time. She thought that was her self-AQ way of speaking. But then it was her turn, when a seemingly certain project collapsed at the last minute, she also blurted out the exact same sentence. It turns out, there are times when it's not that you are not good enough, but that time has not stood by your side.
Patience is not about sitting still and waiting. Patience is about continuing to work, while not sure when the results will come. Not giving up is not about stubbornly banging your head against the wall. Not giving up is knowing how to stop for a moment to breathe, then return in a different way or the same way but with a more relaxed spirit.
And perhaps, after all the times standing in front of ATMs, in front of seemingly deadlocked intersections, he and she both understood a very simple thing, in fact a motto that seems everyone knows: "Nothing is impossible, just be patient and not give up.
