I'm not trying to be an old man harping on "kids these days" but I was recently sitting in a class were we were discussing emerging trends among today's college students (seeing as I was one less than a year ago I will include myself in this statistic).
College students want everything now. Tired of investing in relationships for long term payoffs and the strung out process of making friends? Just Facebook someone you went to high school with! Looking for intimacy and can't wait for the right "someone" to come along? Just go hook up with some random dude/chick at a party. Drinking is also a shortcut to dealing with depression/anxiety/loneliness. There is no reason to go to counseling and spend months FIXING a problem when you can throw alcohol at it.
And despite my tongue in cheek coverage of these issues I want you to know that these findings were researched and confirmed by people who spend more time on research papers than I do.
In psychology we would call this the inability to delay gratification. this is indicative of weak or low ego strength. Which is not like having a big ego (though it is related). You WANT lots of ego strength.
I spent some time thinking about this and I realized that I'm impatient too. Because it's not just about being annoyed in a traffic jam, it's the fact that we sometimes can't wait for God to give us the things we think we need and so we shortcut the process and try to do it ourselves. God and Heaven are the ultimate sources of fulfillment and he also provides legitimate ways for us to find partial fulfillment in earthly things that point to Him and reflect His greatness.
Ever try to shortcut the process? I mean none of MY readers would ever get drunk or hook up with someone at a party (?). But what about relationships in general, money, status, accomplishment, comfort food, looking good, having friends, entertainment, etc...
These things aren't all bad I know...but. Think about it.
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