4 A- Delayed Gratification – Worth the Wait?

I used an example that relates to my life in the vocabulary section about waiting to get the new Mac that is coming out in October.  I know this will give me great satisfaction once I get it, and it will definitely have been worth the wait. The other thing I wanted and waited for was the I Phone 5.  I was ready to purchase a new phone but I knew the I Phone 5 was coming out, so I waited for it, in order to get the newer version of the phone.  In both of these situations above, I had the willpower to wait because I knew I would be happier in the long run.  I feel that I have stronger willpower if I want something bad enough. If something means enough to me, my sense of self control and willpower will prevail.

I agree that overall Americans hate to wait and have no patience. I have seen it everywhere, from the grocery store, to the bank, to the pharmacy, and mostly on the road.  I think people rush through their everyday lives because sometimes there never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done.  I think having patience with everyday life is different from waiting for something that you want.  There is a big difference in waiting because you want to and waiting because you have to. 

I think that as a society, we do not do enough to cultivate the skills of delayed gratification for children.  Children today have more of a sense of entitlement, and do not have to wait for things they want like years ago.  I say this because I listen to my grandmother, or great-grandmother talk about how things were when they were young.  You got presents on your birthday or Christmas, and clothes for back to school.  You didn’t get toys you wanted just because.  I don’t think kids today appreciate things as much as they did years ago.  They should be taught that some things are worth the wait, and that we can’t always have what we want when we want it.

I feel that technology plays a very large role in instant gratification.  The internet, and the information that can be obtained from it, is accessible everywhere. You get whatever results you want immediately. All the information you want or need is available to you, wherever you are, without having to go out of your way to obtain it.  You no longer have to wait to go to a store, or to go to a library.  You don’t have to pick up a phone, or mail a letter to communicate with people.   It makes communication much easier and faster. If you are somewhere where you cannot talk you can text, or e-mail, in order to still communicate. I could not imagine life without cell phones, or the internet.

Most of the children [struggled] to resist the treat and held out for an average of less than three minutes. "A few kids ate the marshmallow right away," Walter Mischel, the Stanford professor of psychology in charge of the experiment, remembers. "They didn't even bother ringing the bell. Other kids would stare directly at the marshmallow and then ring the bell thirty seconds later." About thirty per cent of the children, however, were like Carolyn. They successfully delayed gratification until the researcher returned, some fifteen minutes later. These kids wrestled with temptation but found a way to resist.

Cited from: http://mentalfloss.com/article/21839/dont-eat-marshmallow#ixzz2fU3fEzrW