Being patient is not that easy. I’ve been an ardent believer of patience only to realize I am the most impulsive person you’d have ever come across. But over the years I’ve been mindfully practicing patience and I’m proud to say that I’ve come a really long way.
You probably think I’m going to talk about yoga and meditation as a fix for being patient? – I agree that Yoga and meditation help a great deal but, because we're so busy in our lives it can difficult to practice it each day.
The times when life throws a curve-ball at you, that’s when you need to be extremely patient. As much as I attribute yoga and meditation for my transformation from an impulsive soul to a patient soul, I also practiced (and still do) deliberate patience in my everyday life. These were very simple, at times ridiculous but powerful habits that helped in embedding patience into my life.
It’s not a magic trick! But it does help me when I get upset when things don’t go my way personally and professionally. Especially when I want to fast-track my life or take actions that may not support me in the long run, it helps me to stay in the moment and immediately calm down.
You must’ve heard of the usual ways to practice patience and yes, without any doubt they work beautifully such as – Deep breathing, Gratitude, journaling, Positive thinking, Yoga and meditation. But, I’m going to share one more habit that’s pretty easy to do and practice, especially if you're ready to put in that extra effort & energy to experience or cultivate patience in your life.
Its called to “Take it slow” quite literally! Practice it deliberately to bring slow-ness in your day to day life!
I’m going to list a few ways you could practice patience in your life each and every day. These are drawn from my personal experience but you can get creative and choose something that you can practice for a long time.
Ready!? - Okay! Let's get started!
⇒ Let’s say you’re stuck in heavy traffic. And you’ve already assumed that it’s going to take a while for the jam to clear out. What would you do?
Probably this --
"HONK! AND HONK! AND HONK!"- Doesn’t do you any good, does it? Instead what you could do is wait it out, whether you’re on a 2-wheeler or a 4-wheeler, wait it out without any anger or frustration or getting annoyed. As cliché as it sounds, this is a good way to practice and welcome patience into your everyday life.
⇒ Another way to practice patience could be while waiting in a queue. Allow someone else to go first. Stand or wait patiently for your turn to come.
⇒ Use the stairs instead of the elevator.
⇒ Take the long way home.
⇒ Instead of multitasking, work on one thing at a time. For e.g., while eating a meal don’t check your phone or e-mail or talk or watch television, simply focus on eating. Or open just one tab on your computer and finish working on that before you impulsively open 5/10 tabs more.
⇒ If you’re not a listener, practice effective listening.
You get the drill right? The point is, practice each task slowly instead of a hurry. Get creative it you must.
Does this help? – Yes! Practicing patience in our day to day lives helps us to take it slow and be patient when times are tough. Patience is the key to long lasting success. I’m a firm believer in the philosophy that patience is quite necessary for our personal and professional lives. Patience is not a bad word nor is it for meant only for people who “don’t like it fast”/introverts.
Patience is a habit that you need to/can slowly cultivate in your life. Not only does it have emotional and mental benefits but it has a lot of physical benefits as well.
Those who practice patience have a healthy heart, normal blood pressure, great skin and are not immune to falling ill often.
Patience has proven to be quite helpful for those who experience anxiety, stress, headaches quite regularly. Those who are worriers and get disappointed too soon, patience is a very effective tool for them. Hope this article inspires you to cultivate more patience in your life.
I’d love to hear from you. How do you cultivate patience in your day to day life? Let me know via email.
Got a friend or a loved one who could be craving to cultivate more patience in their lives? Share this post with them. Thank you for reading this article.
🖤 Nikita