How Can I Be More Patient – Guide To Engaging Your Inner Zen

These days we are always in a rush. It may be because houses are expensive so we live far from work. It could be that we work long hours so we don’t have enough free time so we try to cram in as much as possible.

Whatever the reasons are it’s definitely getting worse and causing us to have more stress and anxiety as a result. So what can we do to be more patient so we can take it all in our stride?

Being patient is about knowing that you have enough time in the day to do the things you want and need to. It means realizing you may not give yourself enough time. It means accepting we all do things differently and at different speeds. It means being calmer

Here are are few things you can take onboard to become more patient in your day to day life.

Know that not everything is about you

Just as you may feel the tendency to yell out because people are in your way or in front of you in the line it does not give you the right to be angry at them just because they are there.

There are billions (not millions) of other people in this world all trying to get on with their lives so accepting that you may not be the most important person on the planet (for that matter who is?) is a good step in the right direction

Recognize that if there are other people there you will often have to exercise more calm and restraint than if they were not.

You can also use this time to reflect or do other things, if you need to wait for something instead of sitting there like a high tension cable about to snap, why not read a book or browse the internet on your mobile or tablet to find something humorous. Being in a good mood can help you to cope with the extra pressure you may be feeling.

Not everyone IS you

After accepting that other people are not just “out to get you” and be malicious you may stop to think about their differences. Everyone on the planet is different to the next person in one way or another so accepting this can also get your patience level a bit higher on the scale.

With our many differences, people can work faster or slower. They could be a perfectionist or shoddy and slapdash. They may be well versed in their task or a little nervous and uncertain.

Embracing difference bring out your patience and calm on a new level. If you jump to criticize others imagine if you were in their shoes.

Think of something you cannot do well or something that takes more time for you than others. Now imagine someone standing behind you huffing and puffing and muttering under their breath.

Will that make you do that task better or worse? Faster? Higher quality? maybe not. Giving someone a hard time just because they are not you is not a valid excuse.

Look at your own shortcomings

So you are running around town like a maniac, pushing and shoving, you are short of time and you are plain frustrated. What’s wrong with this picture? Yes the thing that’s wrong here is you!

Why are you short of time? Why are you barging into people? Why are you getting annoyed?

As I said before there are many reasons why we are in a hurry these days. No time to get to work of home, no time for buying lunch, no time to go to the gym. It feels like you never are at rest.

If you always leave your house at the last possible minute with a piece of toast clenched in your teeth and half a cup of coffee hastily tossed into a travel mug then it’s no wonder you will feel impatient at the slightest delay in traffic, even if the cars are traveling at normal speeds, you need to try and cut corners or break the speed limit in places just to get to work on time.

You may be running out to lunch and then get stuck in a long line at the deli, leaving only 15 minutes to quickly bolt down that sandwich and cake your just bought.

These are 2 things many people do but what can you do to immediately fix the issues and make you less impatient? Yes,leaving the house 5 or even 10 minutes earlier means a relaxing drive with no need to risk hurting yourself or others. How about making your own lunch and bringing it into work? You won’t stress about having no time to eat and you can eat properly and be less inclined to give yourself indigestion.

Realize the calm is healthier

Often we try and cram just too much into each day and then as a result of being exhausted we go to bed early and get up late creating a vicious circle where we are trying to just keep up.

One way to deal with this is to let the stresses and lack of time just go over your head. If you are late so be it, if you don’t eat lunch, no worries. But that’s not really the best way.

A better way is to accept your limitations, put the most important things into your schedule and drop those that you can do without. This will give you time to be calm and will reduce your levels of anxiety and impending doom for not being able to fit everything in.

Patience and calm are crucial in today’s world so don’t forget to let them in. Give yourself a break too as well as those around you and you will be happier for it.

Look at the big picture

Take a snapshot look at your typical day and how you felt throughout that day. Was it filled with too many things that needed doing and you felt pretty negative about most of the goings on in general?

Now imagine that same day with no negative feelings, imagine you patiently waiting in lines. Sitting in traffic whistling along to a song.

What is different? In truth no much, the man difference is probably your mood and how you are letting it be affected by your surroundings and the people inside.

Now think about tomorrow. Think about it as another normal day. A day most likely filled with more of the same impatience and annoyance.

Now imagine you doing a few less things in that day to free up some time, you having more time to get to work and back and you just chilling on the way. Imagine yourself sitting down to a lunch you made yourself at home, you are resting and catching up on some articles online that you have been meaning to read for a while.

Sounds much better right? It’s never too late to make those changes, be the person that is calm and patient you see when you are out, the person that smiles and doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. They do but they have just allowed enough time for it.