The Power of Patience
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” - Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist
In addition to being a speaker and author, I am an investor, consultant, and mentor. Patience has been a topic of interest this month in all areas of my work and life. A real estate deal filled with turbulence required patience to see the situation clearly and allow Spirit to provide helpful guidance to complete the transaction smoothly. During some of my consulting meetings, clients had “urgent matters” that came up and the clear spiritual answer was to take a deep breath and a Holy Pause as a demonstration of patience so that decisions could be made from a calm place with divine guidance. This may sound simple, but I know very well that it can sometimes be tough to demonstrate patience in our lives.
An American athlete, Deontay Wilder describes our human condition in a way in which I agree; “Having patience is one of the hardest things about being human. We want to do it now, and we don't want to wait. Sometimes we miss out on our blessing when we rush things and do it on our own time.”
In an effort to move things along and get to our goal faster, we can sometimes rush decisions instead of waiting for divine intelligence, that inner wisdom to orchestrate the perfect timing for right decisions. Accordingly, our desired outcomes can be long delayed.
In our society, we’ve become accustom to instant gratification and want things without waiting. At 2am, we can shop for something and have our package delivered the same day. We expect immediate results from a diet or time at the gym. We enjoy take out foods or precut delivered meals so that we can enjoy our dinner that much faster. We can even have articles and books read to us while we “multitask” and do other things. We have cultivated lives with little patience. It’s no wonder that we want to solve problems or make big decisions quickly. I can assure you that this rarely has a good outcome.
Make time to practice patience so that you’re prepared to demonstrate it when you most need Spirit’s guidance in making decisions. According to an article in Inc. on line, here are four ways to practice patience to become a happier person:
1. Make Yourself Wait
The best way to practice patience is to make yourself wait. A study published in Psychological Science shows that waiting for things actually makes us happier in the long run. Start with something small like waiting a few extra minutes to drink that milkshake and then move on to something bigger. You will begin to gain more patience as you practice.
2. Stop Doing Things That Aren't Important
We all have things in our lives that take time away from what is important. One way of removing stress from our lives is to stop doing those things. Take a few minutes and evaluate your week. Look at your schedule from when you wake up to the time you go to sleep. Take out two or three things that you do that aren't important but take time. It's time to learn to say no to things that cause stress and make us impatient.
3. Be Mindful of the Things Making You Impatient
Most people have several tasks in their head, and they jump from thought to thought without taking the time to finish one task first. We live interrupted lives as we try to multitask and it is frustrating when we feel we aren't making progress. It is better to be mindful of our thoughts and the best way to understand this is to write down what makes you impatient. This will help you slow down and focus on one task at a time and remove those things that stress you out.
4. Relax and Take Deep Breaths
Most of all, just relax and take deep breaths. Taking slow deep breaths can help calm the mind and body. This is the easiest way to help ease any impatient feelings you are experiencing. If breathing doesn't help, I find taking a walk to clear your head can be helpful in getting refocused on what’s important. The point is to find some time for you each day to decompress.
If we slow down and practice patience, we will become less stressed and more mindful of the things that stress us out. That will lead to a happier life for you and those around you.
Following is a 5th tip that I’ll add to Rhett Power’s advice above:
5. Commit to a Daily Spiritual Practice
As you get clear each morning on the goal outcomes that you’d like for yourself and others, anything unlike these goals will easily fade out of your life and become less important. What used to irritate you and make you impatient will have less of an affect since your subconscious and spiritual intuition will be on high alert each day to illuminate ideas, steps, and opportunities consistent with your desired goal outcomes. As you stop looking for problems and disruptions in your life, they will cease.
American President, John Quincy Adams advised: “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” I agree.
Patience is a valuable tool for prosperity, health and happiness. I hope that you take the time to cultivate patience in your life. May you be blessed now and always. For more information about me and my work, please visit www.maymccarthy.com.