How to Develop Patience

Patience is a true virtue everyone wishes to be endowed with. It is the ability to tolerate delay and frustration even if you think you are pushed to the edge.

When you have patience, you can overcome criticism and can remain unaffected by the chaos in your surroundings. In modern parlance, patience is the power to remain ‘cool’ even under provocation or trying circumstances.

Nothing is achieved by losing one’s patience. It may lead to a rise in your pulse rate and blood pressure leaving you agitated.

For example, if you happen to be behind a long line of cars at the traffic signal, we see impatient motorists sounding their horns repeatedly annoying the others.

Impatient people usually try to reach their destination fast even by violating traffic rules putting themselves into unnecessary trouble. Even worse, previous lives are lost while crossing railway lines due to sheer impatience.

On the other hand learning to develop patience can take you to greater heights of maturity and harmony in relationships. Patience is a precious gift that can help you to win hearts and also life’s battles admirably. Developing patience is an investment you make in yourself to reap and cherish lifelong benefits.

Practical tips to develop patience

1. To develop patience, begin with small goals

You cannot expect to be totally different overnight. So start in small ways which you can manage comfortably. Identify things or situations that annoy you and try to control the urge to react one thing at a time.

Slowly you will master the art of controlling your impatience. With practice it will become easier to be patient and to tolerate these situations.

2. Use of perspective

If you look at things from a different perspective and think about the more important aspects, you will realize the futility of losing patience or getting upset at the slightest provocation.

Always remind yourself of the fact that things take their own time and being impatient and acting in haste can cause a bigger setback.

When we develop patience, we find that we develop a reserve of calm and tranquility. ~ Dalai Lama (Tweet this)

People who end up being caught bribing middlemen to speed up the process of getting their projects cleared by authorities are good examples of this type.

3. Taking a deep breath and counting to 10

When you feel highly irritated or about to blow your top, stop and count slowly to ten mentally. By the time you reach ten, your mind would have calmed down and the frustration melted away.

The impulse to scream or act violently would have died down. Deep breathing at these moments is the best way to calm down and let your better sense take control of the situation.

4. Practice stress-relief methods

A healthy way to fight frustration, impatience and anger is to master stress-relief methods. Deep breathing exercises in yoga and meditation are helpful in combating stress and maintaining a cheerful disposition at all times.

You will find the ways to live in the present moment and control your emotions which includes patience. The calmness of mind also will lead you to handle situations with more clarity and tact and you will be surprised to find a decline in the tendency to lose your patience.

Read more stress management tips at Yoga for stress relief

5. Grow plants

Activities like growing flowering (and other) plants in our garden is a good way to develop patience. Watching every stage of the growth of the plants is a joyful experience and instills patience and a sense of balance.

You will learn to accept delays, setbacks or complications as a part of life that can be dealt with and you will be well-prepared should they happen again in the future.

Spending time with kids also teaches a lot of patience. Try to laugh more often.

Conclusion

All the above steps help you to love life and drive out bitterness and have a positive approach to everything. When you have imbibed such qualities, you will be surprised to see the level of patience you have achieved.