Patience

The last 20 months have been a painful and frustrating time that most of us could never have believed or predicted beforehand. Many clients have expressed their impatience to have this situation behind us … and I couldn’t agree more. While certainly some things seem to be changing or loosening up, it does feel as if we are moving at a snail’s pace and with much contention added to the process. At some point in life, we have all experienced a feeling of impatience. Whether it’s waiting for an important phone call or having to wait out the slow start of a new project or endeavour, when we come up against such moments, I stress the importance of patience.

Understandably, patience is not a word most of us want to hear. We’re not used to being patient, especially in the Internet age when we have such instant or near instant access to so much. But the truth is that some things simply take time, and trying to hurry them along doesn’t necessarily produce the results we are looking for. Learning when to take action and when to step back and let things happen at their pace make for a better and more peaceful life.

So when you are feeling impatient with some aspect of your life, it’s good practice to stop and ask yourself why you are in such a rush. Is there really something you can do right away or are you simply in the grip of your own impatience? It’s only through the process of examining such situations and our reactions to them, that we can discover whether there is something we can do to move things along or if we simply need to bide our time until change happens in its own time.

Now, I know this practice is easier said than done. Often, the best solution is to take your mind off of the fact that you just have to wait for things to fall into place before you can move in your desired direction. Maybe you need to slow down and spread out your tasks throughout the day and focus on what is going on in the present rather than what’s to come in the future. This could also be an opportunity to “practice” patience by learning how to stop for a few minutes and just breathe… or maybe just try to sit still and quiet your mind. You could learn a lot about yourself by doing just that.

Patience simply means being able to accept delay or difficulty without being angry or upset. The next time you find yourself growing impatient over a situation you want to change, try out some of my suggestions. You are likely to discover a reserve of patience within.