According to Merriam-Webster, patience means the ability to wait for a long time without becoming annoyed or upset; the ability to remain calm and not become annoyed when dealing with problems or with difficult situations; and the ability to give attention to something for a long time without becoming bored or losing interest (merriam-webster.com). Basically patience means being able to wait, stay calm, and give attention without becoming annoyed, upset or bored. I hear a lot of people, including myself, say that they don’t have a lot of patience or none at all. I know that I say that I’m always working on being more patient with others, situations and things. It’s definitely a work in progress for me and I’m sure it’s the same way for some of you as well. I admire those folks who can exercise long periods of patience….WHEW…bless your heart LOL!!!
For those of us who lack patience, we should be mindful that there are others out there that are patient with us. Is it fair to them to be patient with you but you have no patience with them? No, if you’re honest with yourself you know that it’s not fair. You also know that you should treat people like you want to be treated. When I think about it like that, I try my best to exercise patience in all situations because I do want people to be patient with me, especially when I don’t get whatever it is the first time. Easier said than done, but you guys know that being patient is a learned behavior. Everyone can master this behavior if they put forth the effort to do so. For example, as mothers, we do have some high expectations for our children; we want them to get it the first time around because we don’t want to keep repeating ourselves. If they don’t get it, then we get upset or annoyed with them and that’s not good. It’s not good because your children are trying (sometimes), and they get frustrated as well when they don’t get it the first, second, or even third time. With our children, we have to learn to exercise some patience because they are learning as they grow. For those who are dating, now you know this is a process within itself, however you tend to want things to progress at a certain speed when in fact you’re not truly ready for it to progress at that speed. Also, you lose interest because it’s not happening at the speed you expected. In this situation you’ve lost patience with the process and the person you’re dating…this may only be my story LOL! At any rate some things take time to grow and if you exercise patience and take time to nurture whatever it is, you’ll see the growth in time.
However, you have to have patience in order to see the growth. Having patience is just like planting a seed and watching it grow. The growth process takes time and you have to water and nurture the seed so that it can grow as it should. If you stop watering the seed, then the plant may never grow or it may start to die. And some of us just let those seeds die without even trying or putting forth a good effort.
Here are a few tips that I use to help me exercise patience.
1. Take slow deep breaths and count to 10 before responding
2. Be thankful and practice gratitude
3. Be mindful and be present (in the moment)
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