To say that “patience” is a virtue may be a bit of an understatement. In today’s fast-paced world, patience may be a superpower. As such, mastering the lost art of patience may be the catalyst that you need to change your life. 

I’ve struggled with “patience” most of my adult life. Although I have come to embrace its healing virtues, I still struggle with being patient if I’m honest. For me, it shows up in the most horrifying scenarios, like when another driver made hand gestures when they felt that my husband was taking too much time parking the car. Before I knew it, my hand was on the door and I was on my way out of the car, when my husband gently said: Hon, no. I thought I was completely delivered from road rage but was not.

How does impatience show up in your life?

The Dictionary defines patience as, “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. “

Patience is a skill/superpower that many of us would benefit from learning how to master better. We may get short with our kids or loved ones, have some road rage (I’m clearing my throat on this one), struggle with other issues that make us stamp our feet, or get frustrated over the small irritating things in life. Learning the art of patience can facilitate more success, healthier relationships with others and yourself, improve well-being, and much more. 

Let’s take a closer look at patience and what it means. Patience is a state that occurs between an experience that you have and your reaction. Whether you want to be patient with yourself, with those around you, or with life, patience always seems to be how you deal with obstacles or delays in life. 

Those with patience will find that they can more easily let go of the things that are outside their control. For some, this can be hard to do. But once you realize that exercising patience is a skill that can be learned, you can begin to master it. Like most new skills, it can be challenging and will take practice. But you can do it. Especially when you have a reason to. 

So let’s take a look at some of the benefits of mastering patience to see if we can find a reason to unlock the power of this virtue.

Benefits of Patience

Several benefits come with having more patience, here are a few:

Lowering the risk of certain health issues: Patience can put us at a lower risk of heart conditions, anxiety, and depression. We feel less stressed when we are more patient. 

Making better decisions: Making good quality decisions that can alter the path of your life requires patience. I’m not suggesting analysis paralysis and procrastination. I’m suggesting the internal power slow down so that you can make intelligent decisions. This becomes more important when other people are involved because who and what you care about today might change in the future. Patience allows you to count the costs of today’s actions on the future of those you love.

Happiness becomes easier: There is a direct correlation between patience and happiness. Patience enables us to feel happier. When we have less (self-imposed) stress and anxiety, we can feel more tranquil and better overall. 

Life feels easier: Your journey in life is easier and more pleasant when you can reduce stress and be patient. 

You can increase your patience, and feel less stressed and happier. 

Finding the right tips is the key to making that happen.

How to Become More Patient

Now it is time to look at some of the steps that you need to take to be more patient in your daily life. Some of the best efforts to help with this include:

Be mindful of your thoughts: While a situation can cause hurt, confusion, and frustration, you can determine how you react to it. You can secure your thought before it becomes an action and turn it into something more peaceful too. This is a skill that takes a lot of practice. It will be harder for some, but if you stick with it you will master it. 

Figure out what triggers your impatience: You need to learn more about your triggers and what makes you impatient overall. When you learn what these triggers are, you will be able to avoid them or find methods better deal with those issues. For example, deep breathing works wonders for road rage (Ahem…I would know).

Show gratitude: When you show more gratitude in your daily life, you will be happier and won’t have impatience take over your life any longer. In other words, I am grateful for my car, spouse, kids, job, new opportunity, “fill-in-the-blank”, even though I’m feeling frustrated right now. This too shall pass. Practice showing gratitude by talking to yourself. It can help tremendously.

Set short-term goals: We love setting those long-term goals, as we should. But, setting a few short-term goals and celebrating your achievements along the way will give you something amazing to look forward to and can help you build that patience muscle. 

Practice delayed gratification: When you make yourself wait and think through something before you buy those new jeans, you will find that it will become easier for you to practice patience in other areas too. This can be hard but is still very good for helping you slow down. 

Being patient is a skill that takes time. While it would be nice to wake up one day and have a ton of patience, this is not always possible. By following some of the tips above, you can add more patience to your life, along with more happiness and contentment. 

You can do it. Just breath.

Be well + prosper,

Elaine xx