Patience
“Have patience with everything, but, first of all, with yourself. ”
Hello Friends,
I’ve been guilty of losing my patience in the past with people and life’s situations. I hope others can relate. Practicing patience is the first tool you can add to your tool belt to achieve goals and create harmony within your life. Patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. When feelings get heated, remember that you are the only one with authority over your actions. Our reactions can be unfavorable, belligerent, and impulsive when decisions are made in this state. These negative characteristics can put you under a lot of stress and affect relationships. Practicing patience helps create calmness and composure, making interactions pleasant and not nasty.
Tip One: Evaluate Yourself
You are the only one that controls your actions, thoughts, and emotions. If you allow frustration to lead you to be impatient, then it's time to look within. Evaluate the situation; ask yourself tough questions about whether this is creating intolerance, delay, trouble, or suffering and whether you can solve or handle the problem yourself. If this is due to your negligence, this is a evaluate yourself moment, which means you are affecting yourself, and action should be taken. A perfect example of an evaluation self-moment would be waiting till the last minute to accomplish a task on a deadline which is a prime reason people lose patience when things aren’t going their way. It is being revealed by God, the Universe, or whom you believe is guiding you to get it together and evaluate yourself. I must assess myself now and then. I am not ashamed of it because I know that I am the only one that can create actions for my goals and shortcomings. Only you can stop hindering yourself or keep allowing this dissatisfaction to continue; you decide! If the circumstances cannot be solved or handled by you, it is time to create a resolution within your mind. Let go of the inconvenience, accept it and use this delay, trouble, or suffering as a productive learning moment. Or you can explore other options to get the needed task done yourself if you want to add more to your to-do list.
Tip Two: Practice Self-Control
Patience reflects your level of self-control by resisting adverse reactions to emotions and thoughts. Self-control is setting boundaries with yourself and keeping them intact, which takes commitment and trust from you to control yourself. This self-restraint will allow for evaluating alternative actions before reacting negatively. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself being more mindful of yourself and others around you while practicing self-control. For more tips on Self Control, refer to the Self Control Blog.
Tip Three: Understanding that Everyone is on Different Schedules
There are roughly 7 billion people on earth, so keep in mind that the world doesn’t revolve around only one person. Demanding others to be on your schedule can be interpreted as selfish or self-absorbed, which can affect relationships. We all have schedules to keep and tasks to complete, and we're not all on the exact schedules, so it will take some effort to be proactive to control the inconveniences you can handle. Take time to research the task you are accomplishing and the information needed to manage time better. For example, when going to the DMV, I will analyze data about online scheduling, average wait times, and all the items needed to accomplish my task. Then I schedule a day that will fit my schedule, which might mean taking time off or going earlier in the day. Regardless, my patience doesn’t turn into agitation because I have been proactive with my time management, and it will not affect me if the person ahead is taking too long.
When practicing patience, kindness, empathy, forgiveness, and cooperation are intensified, which is why cultivating patience is essential. I also want to remind you that this isn’t only for others but also for your harmony within.
Stay tuned for next week’s blog!
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Many blessings, and remember, you are a miracle!