Have you looked at the pace of your life recently?
Do you notice how your behavior has changed over the recent years?
Have you checked your expectations lately?
Where has patience gone to?
We send an email and we expect an answer within the hour, within the day.
We call someone and are annoyed that they are not answering immediately.
We are at the cash register in the grocery store, and God forbid that there should be 3 people in the line in front of us.
We order a package and want it delivered within days.
We ask someone to perform a task and are already giving a second and third task before they have even finished the first one.
The first thing we check when we book a holiday is: is there WIFI?
And then we wonder why we feel stressed, why we feel overwhelmed, why we feel tired all the time.
People do not have any patience left, even when it’s getting wildly absurd. For example, yesterday, I was driving on a 2-lane highway, steady traffic on both lanes, no one could go any faster than we were going. But still, the lady behind me suddenly got very impatient and annoyed with me. She even started filming my car and got aggressive in the end. Why, to what purpose? We were all driving as fast as traffic allowed, no gaps in between, and still she was working herself up into a state of uncontrolled frustration. People lose themselves. They forget what they are doing, they create an image of a situation that is not even there. And that can become dangerous.
Patience is a virtue. One we need to experience more joy, more kindness, more tenderness in life.
How can we bring ourselves back to the moment?
How can we slow down, so that we can actually enjoy our lives again?
We can train* ourselves in practicing patience again.
First of all, I firmly believe in starting your day consciously**.
Don’t fly off like a launched rocket in the mornings.
Take a slow start.
Breathe.
Be aware of you, of your body and mind waking up.
Ask yourself:
How do I want to feel today?
Who do I want to be today?
These very thoughts will already bring you back to your center.
This will make you start your day consciously, instead of, subconsciously, hopping on the crazy treadmill every morning.
Whenever you feel yourself getting impatient during the day, breathe, and tell yourself: it’s going to be okay. This little moment of not losing yourself is enough to bring you back to the facts, and closer to a solution.
You might think it’s not important, and that getting all worked up is not that big an issue, but it is.
It’s all these little moments that at one point, build up towards an eruption of uncontrolled anger.
Train yourself to recognize all these little moments.
Once you are aware of them, you can breathe and steer* your thoughts towards calmer waters.
Every time you found your calm again, is a moment won.
Keep doing this every day and it will become your new MO. No more knee jerk reactions.
The longer you practice this, the more you realize there is no need to get all worked up all the time.
As a result:
You’ll feel a lot calmer, a lot happier.
You’ll be able to see the difference between what is important, and what not. Between what is urgent and what not.
The calmer your mind, the clearer your vision.
Stop stirring muddy waters.
The moment the water is calm again,
you can see everything very clearly.
Life will become easier, less frantic.
You’ll be able to sleep better, and you’ll even notice your health improving too.
My invitation to you all this week is:
Learn to be patient again.
Create daily rituals to be able to stay calm when things heat up.
Breathe whenever you feel yourself losing the plot.
Put your hands on your heart for a couple of minutes every day. It may seem useless, it may seem silly, but do it anyway. Become quiet while sitting like that. You’ll notice how good it feels, and how you really return to yourself, away from all the noise, from all the rush.
Go to bed early enough so that you have a good night’s rest***.
Make sure there is space in your agenda* so that you have time to breathe in between activities.
And finally, go into nature, walk in silence, enjoy the beauty that surrounds you, and feel yourself being a part of it.
Nature is patient, it never rushes, and yet, all gets done, every season, every year.
Thank you all for reading me, and for supporting me on Medium. If you want unlimited access to all of my articles, and of many other authors, you can become a Medium Member. You’ll be supporting me and all the other authors. Many, many thanks to you all!!!
Katrien
*”Less is Yes!” by Katrien Degraeve.
**”Happy Mornings, Happy Days. Happy Days, Happy Life.” Medium article by Katrien Degraeve.
***”Night Time: Sweet Dreams or Waking Hours?” Medium article by Katrien Degraeve.