Patience is a Change Virtue
We all love instant gratification—stopping for ice cream, buying the car right off the showroom floor or finding the movie we want in the On Demand listings. But when it comes to change, there’s nothing instant about it. As much as we want a fast fix for our feelings and emotions, change takes a whole lot of patience. Accepting this will help make change easier.
“The universe works on its own schedule,” says Ariane in her book, The First 30 Days: Your Guide to Any Life Change, “Even as the mind has already decided that the change process is taking too long and tries, in vain, to speed it up.” Usually, the harder you try, the worse you feel.
If there’s a change you’re anxious to get through, think endurance, not impatience. Do whatever is in your power to help you get through the change and try your darnedest to let time take care of the rest.
How do you practice patience when waiting for change?
"If there's a change you're anxious to get through, think endurance, not impatience. Do whatever is in your power to help you get through the change and try your darnedest to let time take care of the rest." If you look at the experience as an "adventure," an opportunity to learn and grow, it's easier.
The word adventure packs a positive, anticipatory energy, even if/when it's about being patient!!
I try to find humor in "change" situations. When I can laugh at something about life's adventures, impatience dissipates!!
I write down inspiration quotes and keep at least one in my wallet and in my nightstand. The one I wrote just yesterday, "I can't be disappointed when I gave it my all" (Project Runway contestant :) It's hard to be patient and optimistic everyday, but when I see a visual reminder it seems to calm me down and bring out my confidence (which allows me to be more patient).
In a weird way, I temper my impatience by imagining myself way after the change is done...maybe 6 months later. I imagine myself in a better place, settled and happy with my change. Somehow, for me, that seems to give me patience and make the challenges easier to deal with since I know it will work out in the end.
It's hard to be patient. I want everything to happen already, or at least know how it's going to happen. I try to remind myself that I've been in this place before and that all is unfolding as it should ... and try not to rush it.
In my life as much as I've indulged my impulse for instant gratification, I never feel good about giving into that impulse. Patience makes me feel better all the time.
Hope is the most powerful tool that I use when going through a change. It's like a light at the end of the tunnel. It's easier to be patient when you believe something good is coming from the change.
I practice patience, by counting my blessings and living a grateful life and enjoy the every little experience in the journey of change.