Patience is a virtue, they say, but it’s not always easy to put into practice. We all struggle with impatience at times, whether it’s waiting in line, dealing with a difficult situation, or eagerly anticipating that exciting event that’s happening soon.
Developing patience is a skill that takes time, effort, and practice, it doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s a skill that’s worth cultivating, and worth waiting for.
So how can we develop patience? Is it as easy as taking a few deep breaths and coming back to the current moment?
To become a more patient person, a good place to start can be to work on your mindfulness skills. Mindfulness can be defined as the ability to remember, or hold, an object in the mind.
It is a quality of the mind that has been studied for millennia in many contemplative schools, and has only more recently come into the limelight in the West.
It’s a quality of the mind that is immensely powerful and has been subject to rigorous investigation… and, the good news is, it can be developed through training.
Mindfulness is a powerful tool to develop patience because it helps you stay calm and focused, even in difficult situations.
When you’re mindful of an object, whether that be bodily sensations, emotions as they arise, or even the breath, for example, you’re less likely to react impulsively or become agitated.
Mindfulness also helps you to work on self control and gives you the space to understand your own impatience triggers.
A simple mindfulness practice
One simple way to develop mindfulness, is to start by focusing on your breath. Take a few deep breaths and focus on the sensation of the air moving in and out of your body.
Mindfulness, as we discussed earlier, is the ability to remember our object of focus, the remembering itself.
A deep breath can be a useful tool to engage our focus, especially when we feel stressed. Should any thoughts or emotions arise, don’t judge or react to them.
