For a 2 minute audio version click here
Benefits of Patience
In my last post I defined patience, a trait so often called for in daily life.
The far reaching benefits of patience have been demonstrated in numerous research studies that find higher levels of happiness and more effective overall coping skills in individuals who are patient. By working on changing one’s perspective when faced either with the ‘little ’annoyances of daily routine as well as when struggling to cope with more major life events, individuals can transform their lives so that frustration can serve as a source of growth rather than a source of conflict or stress.
In my upcoming blog posts I will be sharing proven strategies that are effective in improving frustration tolerance while increasing one’s ability to remain calm in the face of provocation.
#1 SELF AWARENESS
We must learn how to recognise the situations or events most likely to trigger angry, impatient responses. Specific triggers will differ from person to person. Systematically tracking the patterns that cause and trigger stress is a crucial first step. Rabbi Yechiel Perr calls nipping impatience in the bud, “opening the space between the match and the fuse.” This is similar to Viktor Frankl’s “Between the stimulus and the response there is a space, and in this space lies our power and freedom.”
When we are more aware, we are better equipped to occupy the space between the trigger and the fuse of impatience with calming strategies.
4n2pcc wrote...