How to be more patient

 So, if you think that you are an impatient person and you are wondering what can you do to become more patient you have come to the right place, pull up a chair, sit and read this article.

by Elia Strange

Patience is a virtue, virtue is a grace,

Grace is a little girl with dirt upon her face.

 You've probably heard this phrase a thousand times or more, but what does it really mean?  (from: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/)

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What is patience


Patience; The ability to wait, or to continue doing something despite difficulties, or to suffer without complaining or becoming annoyed.


Virtue; A good moral quality in a person, or the general quality of goodness in people.

Grace; A quality of moving in a smooth, relaxed and attractive way.

This suggests that in order to be patient you need to be a person with good moral qualities who can function in a smooth, relaxed and attractive manner whilst you overcome issues without complaining or getting annoyed.

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That’s not too much to ask is it?

 


Contrary to popular belief people are not born patient, they have had to learn this ability, this ability which if practiced becomes a skill. This means that patience is a skill and not a talent.


You might think that you know people who seem to have been born patient, but look at all the children you know and think about how many of them are truly patient without ever throwing an “I want” tantrum?  Hardly any, in fact I doubt if there are any at all.

 

We have all had to learn this ability to one degree or another, now all you need to do is practice it and once developed you can add it to your skill set.
 


Think back to what was happening in your life 3-5 years ago, what did you want to achieve? What things did you think of that would have made you happy if only you could have had them?
Some of these things have probably come in to your life by now, but how satisfied are you?

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 "You will never get it done, and you can never get it wrong."

 By the way, this is a quote from Abraham Hicks, one of best spiritual teachers of our times, in my opinion. I believe that as a human being you will always crave ‘something’ to have or ‘something’ happen this continues until you are finished with this life, so try to remember this - you will always crave something.

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Imagination is a good thing


 This desire is a really good thing to have as it makes you feel alive, you can crave something better for yourself, for your loved ones or your family and friends, knowing that you will never run out of these cravings.
 


Do you know why we have these cravings? It’s because we can imagine and fantasize about our next adventure or about the next thing that can make us more joyful. So imagination is good, when you can imagine, you move forward by taking a little time to build up a good action plan using your developing new patience skills, which in turn motivates you to get up and get that thing you are dreaming about.
 


It's great when you can imagine the next best thing in your life, but it's not great if you feel excessively pressurised to the point where the balance of being happy, fulfilled and wishing for more gets really unequal. You might need money right now because you need to repay a debt, or you might wish for better health because right now all you feel is pain.

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What can you do


1) Stop for a moment and make yourself relax, meditate or do what ever it takes to get there, then look again at these circumstances; you can often find little positive moments in them. Perhaps because of a lack of money you would have to move somewhere else, somewhere cheaper. But what if where you move to will turn out to be the place you have dreamed about, maybe not the house itself, but the surroundings and the countryside.

  2) Because life is a journey we will always move on its continuum and due to these changes you will always be travelling, because such is life. With visualisation and forward planning, patience or your lack of it, is no longer a torture. It has become an ability, a skill that allows you to enjoy the journey. Think about this when you go on vacation, you never want to just quickly arrive at your destination, you want to enjoy the journey and meet other travellers on the way.  Taking in the sights as you pass through each stage, or going a little off track to sample the rural cuisine of another country.

 


3) By taking this approach even little nuisances such as delays won't bother you as much. Because before the journey you've decided you will enjoy this vacation no matter what, even if you did it subconsciously. Think about life as a long vacation, filled with good and bad things. They all change, they all pass, and after rainy day you will enjoy the sunny weather.



4) And finally, remember - your 'fun muscles' need exercising in the same way as any other muscle in your body, or they will become smaller and might even disappear. Don't let these valuable muscles recede, practice the enjoyment of life by starting with small things like sitting on the beach or on the bench in the park, appreciate things and the people you have in your life.


Appreciate how you feel right now (unless you are in pain of course), learn to value what you can do physically (seeing the world with a good eyesight, hearing it well because your body is capable of it), appreciate what you can do psychologically - like fantasise and imagine.



If you want to add your thoughts to this, write them in the Facebook comments box below. I would love to read them.

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Other articles you might like:

Life's too f***ing short

How to be happy in this "unhappy" world

How to be more assertive

7 Reasons for our unhappiness

Best Ways to Manage your Stress

Stop your irrational thoughts in 6 simple steps

How optimistic are you? (Fun test)

How angry can you get? (Fun test)

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