Patience, the virtue that improves life: benefits and how to train it

The reasons for cultivating the art of patience in our life are numerous, starting with the benefits on our mental health. Here are three tips to "train" this precious virtue

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Abbie patience! In the impetuous tumult of emotions, of the daily rushing rhythms, of the need to satiate immediately - as we have been taught - our desires or to "bite life" (which means: grab it now!), Patience seems to have to act a conviction.
Patience, I'll have to be patient. And there seems to be, in this, the aftertaste of a sort of resignation, of depressed and frustrated observation of an evidence with which - despite us - we are forced to relate. Patience.





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True patience, however, is something else. "She is the companion of wisdom", wrote St. Augustine. It is the ability to deeply recognize the rhythm and time and conditions that are needed for reality to manifest itself. It is a reversal. It is being with the wonder of the rhythm and the time it takes for the fruits to ripen in the sun, so that in nine months a baby can form in the belly of his mother, so that the cake can bake and rise in the oven but also to ensure that the traffic jam on the road melts away and the traffic returns smoothly. So yes, it is essential for our life and it can be one of the keys that makes it happy, that allows us to honor it in the best possible way.

Patience, the virtue that improves life: benefits and how to train it

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Yes, okay, that kind of patience is for many or perhaps all of us still a mirage but knowing that there is, that it is possible, shows us an ideal direction. Where to train in our daily life: at home with children, at work with managers and colleagues, with those who stand in line with us at the supermarket checkout and in general always, whenever the opportunity arises. Which, alas, is generally not rare.

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Certainly in any case, at whatever personal level you find yourself with the sacred talent of patience, this can make the difference between "annoyance" and "equanimity", between "worry" and "tranquility", between "urgency" and "giving oneself - give the time you need ". The important thing is that it is characterized by a clear, expressed active desire to exercise it: in fact, to put it in Neruda's words, "only ardent patience will lead to the achievement of splendid happiness" (so be careful: when the opposite happens , when patience is a strategy that one feels compelled to adopt in the face of a feeling of frustration and helplessness, in the long run it becomes abundant firewood for anger).



If the wisdom ancient and spiritual has always taught to apply the art of patience, today scientific studies confirm the effectiveness of this approach.

Index

Those who are patient enjoy better mental well-being

A study from a decade ago showed that patient people tend to experience less depression and negative emotions, consider themselves more aware and have a greater sense of gratitude, connection with the rest of humanity and abundance.

More recent research has identified several possibilities for declining patience: there is that interpersonal, which consists in relating equally to annoying, irritating people (who owns it also tends to be more confident and satisfied with their life); another one allows you to face difficult times (for example waiting to find a job, for a cure to work) without frustration or despair because it is full of hope. And then there is the patience of resilience, which helps to overcome the daily annoyances, the computer that freezes, the very long queue and the crafty ones who try to pass on and so on: those who have it are more satisfied with life, less at risk of depression.

Patient people are better friends and neighbors

In relationships with others, patience becomes a form of kindness: it makes you more collaborative, more empathetic, more just in your considerations and more indulgent, capable of alleviating the suffering of others. Whatever kind of patience is put in place, people become more pleasant and friendly, that is, kind, inclined to collaboration, capable of welcoming, generous, compassionate gestures. And inclined to forgive, tolerate the faults of others. After all, patience is the basis of living together civilly and is, in this case, also linked to trust in people and institutions.



Patience helps us achieve our goals

The hasty kitten gives birth to blind kittens: who doesn't know this saying? Patience and perseverance, work and awareness of the time needed to "settle", strengthen, mature allow you to proceed in life, in relationships. The seed needs a favorable soil and the patient expectation (as aware, respectful and capable of accompanying the timing of the seed and the plant) of the farmer. Another study confirms that popular wisdom is not wrong in this case as well: those who are more patient are also able to implement all the actions they need, along the way, to achieve their goals.

Feeding patience produces well-being

A patient approach improves health and protects against ailments such as headaches, acne, ulcers, diarrhea, pneumonia and in general is an excellent anti-stress remedy.

In short: being patient, actively, joyfully, always helps us.

Three tips for training patience

Review your beliefs

Losing patience, no doubt, is an emotional response: we can choose to begin to govern it. In this it will be useful - in every situation - the ability to look at the event not as a problem but as an opportunity: is the person late? Regardless of what decisions this delay may cause me to make towards that person, I can get angry or take advantage of something else in the meantime. Is the traffic slow? I can press the horn to urge others to move, mull over the fact that I will be late or take the opportunity to look at people in a different way than usual, listen to some music.

Meditate and breathe into the heart

Bringing attention to one's breath, breathing consciously, and carrying this into the heart helps to let go, to return to the here and now, letting any emotions such as anger, helplessness, sense of overwhelm disperse. Bring back to your center.

Practice gratitude

Those who are able to feel gratitude, to see the beauty in the little things in life, are even more patient: therefore able to postpone a gratification, the realization of an event that can give satisfaction.

The ideas and information to do so are now all there: let the cultivation of our talent of ardent patience begin!

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