Patience, Young Grasshopper

The 1970s TV series Kung Fu starred David Carradine as a martial arts expert who had flash backs to his younger self being trained by the blind but wise Master Po - who would often say “Patience, young grasshopper” whenever the young student was in a hurry to do something.

I'm going to ask you to exercise patience in reading this article - there is plenty to share but I assure you, all worthwhile...

If patience is a virtue (a sign of high moral standards) then impatience shows a distinct a lack of care, consideration and respect.  Impatience also causes untold harm and distress in our world.

Our technology driven eyes-on-screens lifestyles and disconnection from self, nature and our communities has created a sense of entitlement of instant gratification.  One manifestation of instant gratification is impatience: a natural but unfortunate consequence of the mindset of 'must-have-now'.

'Must-have-or-do-now' - aka impatience - can, in the blink of an eye, translate to unsafe outcomes. So, following the logic of corollary, the application and practice of the virtue of patience should result in safe outcomes.  Now, we all know that life is just not that simple; but something about that just sits so right with me…

I posit that people whose vocations and hobbies require patience (painters, sculptors, wood turners, violin makers, trout fisherman) would be safer people in general.  It would certainly make for an interesting study.

Were my sentiment proved to be true, I’d suggest it’s because the application of patience would be the key ingredient in their mental process that, in effect, slows time down, thus allowing reflection and the opportunity to adjust on the go.

Perhaps the practice of slowly creating something embeds the understanding that the exercising of patience creates quality in works of art, and that rushing will simply not achieve the same pleasing result.  To take it further: the repetition of patience, daily, changes the mindset so that life at large is approached in a patient, unhurried manner that manifests itself as a mental cocoon of safety with which to negotiate life.  

Eat Patience

The following is based on an article by Dr David Jockers titled Is Your Brain Making Enough GABA?

GABA (Gamma-AminoButyric Acid) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that has a calming and relaxing effect in the brain; acting like the brakes in a car, slowing down and/or stopping brain activity on an as-needed basis to help us function better.   When we are low in this neurotransmitter, our brain continues (with the automotive analogy) to hit the gas, overstimulating us with activity.  GABA is also an important part of the synthesis of the sleep hormone melatonin.

Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, pickles, pickled ginger that are rich in lactobacillus microbes are rich in GABA and are the only dietary source of GABA. 

In a different study by RL Carhart-Harris and DJ Nutt titled Serotonin and brain function: a tale of two receptors the findings were as follows:

Serotonin enhances passive coping (tolerating a source of stress resulting in stress moderation) as well as active coping (actively addressing a source of stress).  The authors propose that a second major function of serotonin is to open a window of plasticity (the capacity for change) allowing greater adaptation to the system or environment a person engages with.

A key function of serotonin is to moderate anxiety and stress, and promote patience and coping.

One of the undisputed behavioural effects of reduced serotonin is to increase impulsiveness and aggressiveness – behaviours which do not lend themselves to safe outcomes.  

There is a wealth of evidence that serotonin is involved in the regulation of mood and that it has a complementary effect on mood by promoting stress moderation, patience, plasticity and open-mindedness.  

Negative moods are associated with negative outcomes and may result in unsafe outcomes due to a compromise in the inability of the individual to engage in a deliberate & considered way of thinking & acting.  

There is also a solid link between feeling good and living longer.  I’m willing to bet that both patience and kindness add years to one’s life.

Do our patient painters, sculptors, wood turners, violin makers and trout fisherman have high levels of serotonin that support patience ?

As prevention is far preferable to cure, the goal would be to have the right levels of serotonin without the need for pharmacological intervention. So, where do we get serotonin from without taking manufactured drugs ?

Well, according to an article by Simon N. Young titled How to increase serotonin in the human brain without drugs, through the following:

1. Happiness

Self-induced positive changes in thought and consequently mood - what we know as happiness - can influence serotonin synthesis.

Meditation is known to release Dopamine but also reduces Cortisol - the hormone in your body responsible for stress, and too much of it can lead to sleep trouble, anxiety, and mood swings.  A study published by the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health revealed that after just four days of mindful meditation, the Cortisol levels of the participants decreased significantly.

Studies by neuroscientist Sara Lazar show that maintaining a consistent meditation practice leads to a thickening in a few major areas of the brain - which in turn increases your ability to cope with uncomfortable, difficult and stressful situations and occurrences that life throws at us.  According to the happiness set point theory, if you're naturally more predisposed to being overly worried or stressed out, meditating regularly can quiet those overactive areas of your brain, and thicken the areas responsible for joy and pleasure.   Lazar's studies also show that meditation shrinks the portion of your brain called the ‘amygdala’ - which controls fearfulness and anxiety - leading to greater happiness.

The bottom line is that meditation is a great ally for practicing patience as it has the power to instill a deep sense of calm and serenity in the innermost part of one’s being.

2. Exposure to Bright Light

Only a few generations ago, most of the world population was involved in agriculture and therefore outdoors for much of the day. This would have resulted in high levels of bright light exposure, even in winter.   Even on a cloudy day, the light outside can be greater than levels achieved indoors.  In a recent study daily exposure to bright light (greater than 1000 lux) averaged only about about 90 minutes in summer and 30 minutes in winter among people working at least 30 hours weekly; weekends included.  In summary, summer bright light exposure was probably considerably less than the winter exposure of our agricultural ancestors; indicating that we may be living in a bright light–deprived society.  A large body of literature exists on the beneficial effects of exposure to bright light.

3. Aerobic Exercise

Exercise improves mood in all populations – irrespective of the state of mental well being. The most consistent effect is seen with regular aerobic exercise.  In tandem with declines in exposure to bright light, there has been a decline in the level of vigorous physical exercise experienced since humans were hunter-gatherers or engaged primarily in agriculture.  The effect of exercise on serotonin suggests that the exercise itself, not the rewards that stem from exercise, may be important in producing serotonin.

4. Diet

Although it is true that bananas contain serotonin, that does not cross the blood-brain barrier following consumption.  It is currently believed that for natural serotonin uptake, one should include the following in diet: eggs (especially the yolks), cheese, pineapples, soy products, nuts and seeds, and according to some sources, turkey. I suggest readers of this article do independent research on this matter.

A Skill that CAN be Learned

Patience is something that can be taught, can be learned: in particular by impressionable young minds from role models who practice patience.  Not only can being patient save lives, but it can also save time and allow for reflection – which in turn can lead to the modification of process or decision making. I have first-hand experience of this, specifically in the performance of safety-critical tasks.

My first real job was as an air force pilot – which almost never came to be as I failed a pre-wings flight test assessment because I was not able to set up the aircraft for a successful forced landing without power (FLWOP).  The assessor candidly told me that he could not recommend me for my final wings test but, graciously set me up with a wizened old Commandant – who took me under his wing and flew a few remedial training sessions with me. He quickly recognized after observing my rushed manner of dealing with a FLWOP that I did not understand that, taking time, creates more time to set one up for success.

The first few steps as I best recall (not having flown for over a decade) for managing a FLWOP in a single engined aircraft are:

a. Convert excess Speed into height when this is possible – thereby gifting time to think and better respond.

b. Set attitude (aircraft nose position in relation to the horizon) to achieve the best glide speed. This not only gives the best available trade-off between height lost and distance able to be covered over the ground, but again, creates more time to plan the flight path and carry out other critical actions. 

c. Trim forces off the yoke (so virtually no physical effort is required to maintain the attitude and the best glide speed).  This eliminates the need and effort required to fly ‘hands-on’ and frees up brain capacity to attend to what matters.

d. Take time to identify a suitable field to land the aircraft in. This step requires observation and evaluation – best accomplished with an unhurried mind.

I’ll stop the process there. Essentially the first four steps are there to create time and put one in a space or zone where the remainder of the FLWOP actions can be actioned in an unhurried, considered and methodical way.

Where I failed dismally was rushing. My belief at the time that I had little or no time was actually an impediment to achieving a safe outcome. This belief was partly based on fear – itself the result of ignorance. When the veil of ignorance had been lifted by the kindly Commandant and I had learned to slow myself down, dealing with FLWOP became a breeze – and took any fears I had along with it.

The good news is that I got my wings – thanks, in no small measure, to the practicing of patience; which improved my piloting skills in many other areas. 

This became especially valuable to me years later when I became a flight instructor. I have no doubt that my students benefited tremendously from being in a calm, safe environment that allowed them to learn facilitated by my role-modelling of patience in all that we did together.   On a tongue-in-cheek anecdote, another tool in creating this calming environment that flight students are not privy to is that flight instructors are taught to sweat only on the side of their face not visible to the student!   Clearly they were also too occupied to notice the clenching of teeth, widened eyes and white knuckles of their instructors – which mostly manifested during the initial attempts of students at landing.

To conclude with the theme of aviation in order to enlighten on the relationship between patience and safety: many aircraft accidents that I and others have investigated have been attributed to ‘get-home-itis’ – the absolute need to be at a certain place, no matter what (cost). Had patience been practiced the pilot and passengers would, undoubtedly, have lived to see another day.

The Ugly Side of Impatience

Here are some manifestations of impatience you’ll come across in your daily lives that have safety implications.

On the Road:

a. Intentional running of red (traffic) lights.

b. Pushing through amber lights - when one should have not have done so – just because the driver didn’t have the patience to wait one more change of lights and do it safely.

c. Hoons who choose to drive at break-neck speeds along roads through suburbs - where children play and sometimes run after their balls into the road.   They have no chance of stopping in time. They also have no regard of the consequence of their actions because they either lack patience or don’t care.  I suspect it’s a case of both in good measure.  Hoons are self-centred beings that care nothing for the community they’re a part of - until the damage is done and its all too late…

A few days ago I nearly became a victim of the impatience of another road user.  Imagine: travelling along a single lane bi-directional road, bus first in the queue ahead, one car following and then myself riding a motorcycle, with a few cars behind. The vehicular train reaches a point where the road widens to two lanes.  The car ahead has not yet begun to overtake the bus and I’m mentally preparing myself, waiting for my turn (exercising patience). I’m about to move towards the centreline to initiate overtaking. I hear a whistling sound. The driver of the car behind me has decided to overtake all three vehicles ahead in one go – almost taking me out in the process.  Very close call….  No doubt, in a rush to get home without any semblance of patience. I have no doubt that that particular individual will, in time, kill or at least seriously maim, someone. I wonder if sometime in the future a gene for patience will be discovered that can be tested for as a requirement for the issue of a driving licence. Mind you, perhaps by that time autonomous driving vehicles may be the norm.

To illustrate a point on patience, try these simple experiments sometime:

a. Drive at or slightly below the speed within your suburb. You’ll soon sense the frustration of the driver behind – in what has become the 'normal rush'. You might notice white-knuckles clenching the steering wheel. In an extreme case you’ll be gifted with a frothing of the mouth episode.  Yet, by slowing down not only does it give one more time to notice that child chasing after their ball that’s about to roll into the road, or the dog making a dash across it, slowing down relaxes the shoulders and just puts one in an altogether better space that creates a safety buffer.

b. Take some time to stand alongside the road that you live on and observe the speed of vehicles driven on that road. Ask yourself if you feel the speeds driven are acceptable, or excessive. Ponder for a while about whether the drivers of the vehicles you have observed would have sufficient time to notice, and then avoid, hazards and people (particularly children) or pets crossing the road. Ask yourself if driving at that speed would gain the driver any real benefit. Ask yourself if you are witnessing impatience in motion. My sentiment is that a rushed mindset - that leads to speeding - will soon enough only end in pain.

In our homes: chronic impatience practiced by one individual on another may lead to domestic violence, abuse, divorce or suicide.  Do you know that in 2010, more people died from suicide than as a result of all wars, murders and natural disasters combined ?

On the job: lack of patience in following safe procedures by taking a shortcut can be very unforgiving; in the worst case, can kill.

In the office: impatience can lead to bullying and result in people quitting their jobs.

In the factory: impatience with fixing of faulty machinery needed to maintain or meet a production run can lead to poor decision making and unnecessary stress; perhaps harm.

Victims of Our ‘Success’

To quote Professor Otto Scharmer: “Collectively, we enact results that nobody wants.”

It would not surprise me if impatience plays a generous role in this, as we live rushed lives: Rush Hour, Rush Minute, Rush Second – taking no time to smell the roses.  

I believe this to be a consequence of us having become disconnected from nature and driven by greed.   We’re mostly self-serving, rather than contributors to the well being of those around us and the environment we live in and depend upon. Our thoughts seldom extend to include others in the consequences of our actions.  It appears that we’ve forgotten to do unto others as we would want done unto ourselves.  The core values of kindness, consideration, respect and patience seem to have fallen by the wayside.

With increasing numbers of human beings in the pool placing demands on finite resources the ‘every man for himself’ mindset manifests as impatience. Contemplate that the next time you’re parked at a set of traffic lights waiting for your green (to go) light.

All of this only adds to stress in our rapidly changing world.

Impatience also represents the frustration with not being able to control life, the environment we live in and the universe - something we are constantly striving to do. In the simple but profound words of Professor Srikumar Rao: "You do not have control, You never had control and You never will have control".

To summarize: I believe impatience to be a symptom of the frustration of not having control and of greed. Greed (in all its manifestations) is a product of serving self rather than that of the greater good.  

No single human being is more important than the whole - ever. So, lets begin transforming our mindsets from that of being egocentric to being altruistic.

Take Home Message

Patience requires mindfulness: as Professor Scharmer puts it “the capacity to pay attention to your attention; see your own seeing.”

He also says that “There probably has never been a situation on this planet where the future was at so much risk and dependent on what people do in the now.”

Slowing down, requires a mental shift – one that understands the consequences and implications of not slowing down (in head, heart and actions).  In the world of safety: that running a red traffic light could kill people; or speeding through a suburb could easily kill children or pets and change the lives of both those who have lost ones dear to them and that of the person who’s lack of patience has killed.

Extract patience from what you eat, from meditation, exercise and exposure to sunlight.  

Live the core values of kindness, consideration, respect and patience: the application of these transforms society. We can go a long to achieving effective meaningful change in society by practicing both mindfulness and patience.

Consider incorporating and embedding the practicing of patience and (by extension) tolerance in your corporate statements and policies.

Shift your consciousness from serving self to serving community and the greater good.

Be aware that practicing and applying patience gifts time; and that time is an ally of safe outcomes.

Slow down enough to smell the roses. Slow down enough to be safe. Go slow, Joe.

Perhaps it’s time to create a bumper sticker movement; I think I’ll call label it:

Patience, Young Grasshopper

This is the fourth in the series of short Safety Soapbox articles; the intention of which is to impart my thoughts and observations in order to stimulate debate on matters relating to the achievement of safe outcomes – at work, at play and life in general.  I welcome commentary and constructive engagement on the content of each article.

For those reading this series of articles; some caveats: know that my writing is based on my opinion, and observations, but most importantly, on what sits right with me.  For this to happen there needs to be alignment of feelings on the subject matter across my head, heart and gut.