Serenity and Patience

“Patience you must have, my young Padawan,” says Yoda once to Luke Skywalker.

Patience is a virtue that we often lack today. We seem to be constantly pressed, pushed for time - scampered and rushed - and when we have to wait, it drives us crazy.

 
But that doesn't help - it never helped, and it will not help. On the contrary, when we feel stress, we only harm ourselves. 

Following you will find a few tips on how you can learn to become more patient, persistent and relaxed.

Serenity and Patience

With more serenity and patience, you can go through life much happier. You can deal with stress better, which can even save you from burnout in the long run and make you a happier person.
What you should know: The decision whether you continue to rush through the day stressed out and being in a rage and you hit the ceiling at every opportunity is something you alone can do and you allow or not. Wouldn't you rather convert this negative energy into something positive?

Serenity means finding your inner peace and balance. Try to take life as it comes - life and things all to often have their own rules and paths - a lot of things simply cannot be changed. And even I am a stoic - I have to admit that being patience is something I am struggling most with.

The good news: Serenity is not a question of type. Some may naturally be more at peace than others. But everyone has the opportunity to become more relaxed with a little practice, improve their quality of life and also have a positive impact on their health:

And don't get me wrong - there are certainly situations where a certain level of impatience is acceptable.

Think about Yourself

At the beginning you should examine and observe yourself and your behavior and your mood. What makes you impatient? And why?  Is it because ...

• Do you quickly get impatient if you have to wait a few minutes longer at the checkout? Why?
• Do you quickly get into a hectic rush if you don't do all the tasks right away? Why?
• Does it drive you crazy when your partner or children don't think as perfectionist as you do? Why?
• Are you upset when someone is five minutes late for an appointment? Why?

Once you become aware of how often and on what might trigger you, which kind of often trivial occasions are causing impatience - what makes you rave or even make your blood boil, you can gradually refrain from it.

Accept the Situation and Circumstances

Let's take the supermarket queue as an example. You have to wait whether you want to or not - don't you? If you lose patience, you won't get to it any faster. It's not because the whole universe is conspiring against you. It's just the way it is. It is based on circumstances that you cannot influence in most cases. I master the situation best by giving the cashier a smile and turn the originally annoying wait into a positive experience - not only for me but as well for the cashier - she or he might be stressed too - as the cashier will likely feel the same about the situation as you do. She just might not show it because she experiences it multiple times every day.  In this context a quote of one of my wife's and my most favorite movies "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXE-Ka74LkI) 

Relax

Easier said than done, you might think - and we all know it. After all, if you can and you know your ways of relaxation, you wouldn't be so easily stressed. It is really not impossible to incorporate small moments of relaxation into everyday life. For example, just being aware that you haven't taken enough time off is the first step. Next you start to work on your relaxation. Examples of effective relaxation techniques might be:

Mindfulness: Anyone who goes through life and perceives and accepts the here and now has come a big step closer to mindfulness with serenity. You can do mindfulness exercises at any time in a quiet minute that you gain, for example, by waiting. Deep breathing, a nonjudgmental perception of the body and feelings or looking at the environment will bring you to rest and bring you back into harmony with yourself.

Meditation: Meditation is since a while on everyone's lips, but it is known for centuries. In today's stressful time the relaxation technique of mediation is the ideal antidote. Even a few minutes of 5 to 10 minutes of meditation make you more relaxed in dealing with stress, increase your stress limit and relax your body. After a short time, you will notice that you have more patience, and you will even ask yourself why you were always upset about certain situations.

Yoga or Qigong or I prefer Tai chi: No matter what form of movement, breathing technique you choose, practicing it will have a balancing and calming effect on you. Through series of moves, and deep inhalation and exhalation, you let yourself fall deeper and deeper into the exercise and learn to calm your mind and use your breathing. You also eliminate tension and blockages.

Do what works best for you - Do what you feel best with