When I googled the meaning of patience, it said:
“the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.”
I have always struggled to practise the art of patience in my life. Even though I know that when I am able to be patient, I always get a better result. Being patient is quite a simple concept to apply but for some reason, it can be so difficult to put into practice. Practising patience helps you to better manage the curveballs that life throws at you. Patience also brings calmness, optimism, hope and confidence to your life.
“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." -- John Quincy Adams
The key message is quite clear – when you practise patience, you are more likely to lead a successful and happy life.
Why Being Patient Is Good for You
Patience is a great way to exercise self –control. When you are patient you are more likely to take charge of your life. Here are three key benefits (there are many more) that practising the art of patience can bring to your life:
1. Better Decision Making
By learning patience, you will become better at making decisions. Patience gives you breathing space and therefore you are more comfortable with taking the time to assess difficult situations and reflect on how you wish to proceed. You also develop more self- confidence and know that if you rush into making a decision it will not end well for you. The chance of making a big mistake is higher if your decision is made in haste.
2. A Well Balanced Life
By becoming more patient, you will greatly reduce the stress in your life. Because you are more self-aware, you have a better understanding of what makes you happy and you will tend to focus on doing the things that bring you joy. The result of this is that you become more aware of how to live your life in balance rather than constantly have to fight fires.
3. Better Relationships
By becoming more patient, you are more understanding, open and flexible towards others' mistakes and shortcomings. As a result, you are able to build stronger and longer-lasting relationships. Patience does not come easily to many of us, especially when we live in a world of constant disruption and change. Patience is a mindset and it is not something that comes overnight. If you truly want to be a more patient person, you do have to be prepared to do the work. Embracing patience in your life is part of a life journey and therefor you must be willing to be in it for the long haul. If you can accept that you are okay with stepping out of your comfort zone and that developing a patient perspective will not come instantly, then you are ready to embrace patience into your life. So what can you do to become more patient and take control of your life?
How to Be More Patient
Outlined below are 3 practical techniques you can apply right now into your life that will help you be more patient and take charge of your life.
1. Understand What Triggers Your Feelings Of Impatience
The opposite of patience is impatience. Everyone has experienced the feeling of impatience many times in life – in fact, you can’t escape it! For you to become more patient, it is important that you understand what triggers your feelings of impatience. What is it that you think about or feel right before you lose it? Once you know what triggers you, then you can work on using calming exercises to help you better manage those feelings of impatience when they start to build up. Making yourself wait before you react, and practising deep breathing exercises are great techniques to help you manage those surging feelings of impatience. Counting to 100 under your breath is another technique to help you WAIT before you react.
2. Stop Doing Things That Are Not Important
We can get easily distracted and stressed when we are doing things that are not really important and are taking up a huge amount of time. One way of removing stress is to stop doing things that create more stress for you. Take a few minutes out at the end of your day and reflect on the tasks you have done. Write these tasks down and then write down the tasks you have to do tomorrow. Patience is about having a more positive and reflective perspective in life, so look at each of these tasks and decide which are top priorities for tomorrow and which tasks can wait for a few days. Then go do the important tasks. If you consistently practise this technique, you will slowly take back control over your life.
3. Work on Changing Your Attitude
A person who is patient is able to assess situations from a more positive perspective. They tend to accept a difficult situation as it is and will not fight it or avoid it. They will work with it and try to work on a solution that will enable them to move forward. Patience is all about perspective and how you look at situations. If you miss your bus or are running late for a meeting and stuck in traffic, you have the choice about how you react. A patient person will work on putting a positive spin to the situation and try to reduce the tension that potentially could potentially build up. Having a more impatient perspective on life is not going to serve you well. Impatience will block you from living life where you are in control. Techniques that you could use that will help you have a more positive outlook on life are:
- Visualization. Try to step ahead of the problem. Visualize yourself facing the problem and how you dealt with it and achieved positive outcomes.
- Get active and choose activities that will help you release the stress and tension you are feeling. There are many things you can do such as yoga, walking, breathing exercises, and meditation etc. Choose activities that bring you peace of mind and commit to doing these activities on a regular basis.
Final Thoughts
Practising patience in your life will enable you to have more freedom of choice and as a result, have more control of your life. If you commit to the journey of living a patient life, the rewards that you will reap will be unbelievable. Who wouldn’t want to live a flourishing life where you are in charge?
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