Patience – some people seem to have so much and others so little. I would like to think that I fall somewhere in between!
Ideally you need to have a fair bit of patience when living or working with children – some may want to add adults to the mix! Not a day goes by when my patience is not tested. How else can our patience grow unless it is put into good use?
From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep, you are faced with scenarios where you can choose to exercise patience – or not. Admittedly, I fail at times but another opportunity for me to “step up to the plate” is waiting just around the corner.
Joyce Meyer quoted:
“Patience is not having the ability to wait but maintaining a good attitude while waiting”.
When I first read this is I thought “wow”! Often, we have no choice but to wait as we cannot control when, whatever it is we desire, comes our way. Therefore, we cannot say we are patient based on only this. We are waiting merely because there is no other option!
Looking back to my past, I can pinpoint times where I had a bad attitude to particular situations in my life. I was challenged and unhappy and felt completely justified with carrying a “woe is me” demeanour.
Was it the right way to live? No
Did it affect my relationships? Yes
Did it bring me any closer to what I desired? No
Four points to consider:
1. Think about why you lose patience so quickly. Are you over stretched at home/work/in your business? Can you reduce or delegate some tasks?
2. Keep a journal and note each time you feel impatient. Describe the situation? How are you feeling emotionally?
3. Expect the unexpected. Children will spill drinks and friends/clients will arrive late. Life will also go on.
4. Think about the effect that your lack of patience has on the people around you. How would you like to be perceived?
Do you struggle with having patience?
What impact does it have on the different areas of your life?
organisedlady 
Oh boy did you hit a good one, Phoenicia. I am the least patient person I know! It’s a sad state. I blame my Mom: I was a breech birth born two weeks early. So I always say I do everything fast and backwards. Ha. Mom always laughed at that–especially as she was trying to get me to slow down.
Joking aside, I am patient if I am trying to teach someone something they truly want to learn. I enjoy that. I am mostly impatient in traffic and working from home for five years has actually helped with that. Since I don’t drive daily, I am a bit calmer when I’m behind the wheel.
This is one of those traits I keep working on and probably will find it a challenge until the day I die!
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Rose Mary – I can feel your excitement through your words! My husband too was a breech birth! I will be open and admit that I struggle with being patient. However, I am trying. I always look forward to your messages ☺
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Who likes to wait for anything? Usually I am fairly patient and I surprise myself being so. Other times I hate waiting in lines, waiting for approval of any sort, waiting period. Patience is a see saw for me. I like your tip #4 – thanks for the push in that direction Phoenicia.
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I like your honesty Pat!
Waiting is part of life – this is when our phones come in handy!
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I’m definitely a patient person. Teaching made me even more so. To me it’s all about energy. I don’t like feeling harried, so I opt to work on my patience. I might even be too placid at times, but I guess that’s better than flying off the handle 😉
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Jeri – I would take “placid” over “flying off the handle” anytime.
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I’ve heard that quote, but didn’t realize it was Joyce Meyer. I think I’m a pretty patient person, but then I keep finding out that I’m not! The problem with patience is it takes practice, and that’s never easy.
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Meredith – others may well use this statement which I feel rings home..
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Great topic and inspiring article Phoenicia! I’m normally a pretty patient person with myself and others with one glaring exception – customer service. Having worked most of my life in sales I know what it takes to get and keep a client, and there is nothing that pushes my button faster than lousy customer service … and I have no problem addressing it with the powers that be either. 🙂
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Marquita – bad customer rattles my cage too.
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I Imagine you have to have so much patience as a parent. In fact, along with things like nursing class when you’re pregnant, I feel like they should prepare expectant moms about how to handle the new demands in a healthy way. I’m a New Yorker at heart, so I’m guilty of doing things quickly and wanting things now (that is the general expectation when living in NYC), but learning patience definitely makes for a more peaceful existence.
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Erica – nothing prepares you for being your child’s “everything”. They look to you for all their needs. Huge responsibility. It certainly makes you more seless.
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Another way to deal with this is to think of the last time you were impatient about something and realize how little it mattered that whatever you were being impatient about didn’t happen sooner.
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That is one way of looking at it Ken.
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Great post Phoenicia. It is a challenge to stay calm when working on the computer, because I get tired easily when looking at a screen. I like to take three inhale and exhales in a row to help me calm down. It works wonders. Thanks for sharing these questions. It’s really helpful.
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Thanks Sabrina! Inhale, exhale – need to remember that!
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As for me patience is my best quality. I often thought this was instilled in me as growing up in a rural area. I learned how to hunt with a bow and arrow when I was a young child. Hunting is nothing but patience, you have to sit for hours at a time without moving.
If nothing else, this has provided me in not having the worries of the day escalating and giving me high blood pressure. This world gives us good things and bad, we should wait for them and worrying when they get here.
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Good on you William for prioritising a time to be still.
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I am an impatient person most times and have often joked that the universe was conspiring to teach me patience. You are right about the day being filled with moments that can try one’s patience. I think I am growing more patient and there are (and always have been) a few areas in life where I am very patient. Good advice to think about why we lose patience so easily in some situations.
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Donna – I wrote this blog for me just as much as others! I can be impatient and expect others to work at my speed.
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I’m fairly patient except when it comes to people who think they know more than they do. I find them very frustrating to deal with and I’m sure it shows in my manner to them. Fortunately, now that I’m retired I don’t have anything more to do with them so my attitude TODAY is very good and very patient.
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Lenie – far easier to let people assume they know more than they do. It is grating though.
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Hi Phoenicia. I definitely struggle with patience. But I’m getting better out of necessity. My husband is elderly and in poor health. He is incapable of rushing, so I have had to learn to slow down and just wait for him to get ready, do things, etc. Always a challenge, no matter how hard I work at it.
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Doreen – how challenging. I think most people would struggle with this. I try to slow down for my children and understand they cannot do things at the pace that I would like. I guess we need to enjoy the moment instead of trying to finish one thing in order to move onto the next.
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