I keep hearing “be patient”. Patience? Aaaghhghrr! I want . . . (it) now! In driving, I want to be there now, when there is another car slowing me down, I feel impatience. When the light turns red, I feel impatience. I enjoy moving fast – but where am I in a hurry to go if I am always somewhere that I am feeling impatient?
So I am exploring patience. What is patience? How do you develop patience? Looking up patience on google, I found many patience quotes – that’s as far as I have gotten before, then I typed in “how to develop patience”. I found a list that answers both questions well. Patience is a form of respect for others. Patience is power. A patient person is healthier and less stressed out.
Developing patience is like practicing yoga. You have to practice it. Developing patience is like meditating. You have to practice it. Patience is very much a clue to when the mind is taking over the functions of your higher self. If you find yourself being impatient, that is not your true self. Impatience is harmful, it raises your blood pressure and can lead to chronic health conditions in the impatient person as well as traffic accidents, road rage, and abuse of other people.
So I look for cues and clues as I practice this thing called patience. First of all, I need a reason to actually have patience. The ego says “why bother working so hard?” “what’s in it for me?”. Truly, what is in it for me? Well, for one, I have heard students tell me “you’re so patient with me”, so it is good for my career. (It is no effort for me to be patient with my students, I truly love teaching yoga). Developing patience takes diligence and work, you must find motivation to continue to practice this. In the article I found on patience, it says that “patience can make you happier”, “reduce stress levels and increase longevity”, it is a form of respect for others so improves relationships.*
Patient people complete projects and feel a sense of accomplishment. Impatient people tend to drop a project and move on, never quite completing anything.
*A quote from James Clavell’s novel, Shogun: “Karma is the beginning of knowledge. Next is patience. Patience is very important. The strong are the patient ones. Patience means holding back your inclination to the seven emotions: Hate, adoration, joy, anxiety, anger, grief, fear. If you don’t give way to the seven, you’re patient, then you’ll soon understand all manner of things and be in harmony with eternity.”
Now that I understand patience better, I am excited about this deeper level of practice for myself. I knew that the haste, impatience, impulsiveness, frustration that I experience from time to time needed to be addressed, but wasn’t clear about it. Simply focusing on patience as a topic of self-study, has given me some insight into how I can make my life happier and more powerful – and I hope that you will join me on this journey – we all can make our temporary home a better place.
*(All tips and the quote above was found on this webpage: http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Patient)
