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The Law of Patience

chapter ornament

Today I will practice patience in all I do. I will see situations from another’s point of view and refrain
from losing my mind over things I can’t control.

The Law of Patience states that all things will happen when the time is right for them to fulfill their purpose in your life. It means things will not be rushed, the universe works in its own timeframe, which is often much slower than ours. You can’t rush success, happiness, enlightenment, financial independence, or anything else you’re trying to achieve in life. The idea that patience is a virtue can be traced back to the poem The Vision of Piers Plowman which was written by William Langland between 1360 and 1387.

Patience is your ability to wait, be tolerant and endure difficult situations, especially when those situations cause lateness or delays, without feeling annoyance, anxiety, anger, or frustration. Everything will happen in the right time. It doesn’t matter how mad or upset you get because the situation is making you late, or how much you complain or say ugly things to other people, you can’t change how time moves or how the situation will develop. To be successful in life, you need to have patience.

I used to be the world’s worst when it came to losing my patience. I’m a red-headed Scorpio of Scot-Irish heritage—I kind of have the odds of keeping a cool head stacked against me! When I was younger I lost my temper quite often until one day when I was late to work. I was frustrated and mad because of the delays that had kept me from getting there on time. I have a thing about being late and feel it is irresponsible to not arrive on time. But that day, I had an eye-opening experience. I was stuck in heavy traffic and when it finally started moving, I passed the accident site—the car in the wreck was a red Honda Civic, just like my car. When I saw that, I also heard a voice say That could have been you. Suddenly it washed over me that the reason I had been uncharacteristically late was because someone on the spiritual plane was watching out for me, throwing little obstacles in my path to slow me down so I wasn’t on that part of the highway at the time of the accident but a little bit later. I felt really horrible for the people in the accident but also couldn’t help but be thankful for my guides’ help in slowing me down and making sure I understood the lesson. Today, I don’t lose my patience very often because I know there is a reason behind the changes in my life. When things get tough and my patience wears thin, I just remember that maybe someone is watching out for me again.

Learning Patience

Sometimes it can be difficult to be patient, especially when your emotions have gotten away from you. If that happens, try to bring yourself to center, and find your balance again. Try to think of the situation from the other person’s point of view. The lady in front of you in the checkout line isn’t purposefully trying to irritate you because she’s counting out her change to pay for her purchase. Maybe she is embarrassed because she has to pay in coins. That kid crying his eyes out isn’t doing it because he knows a crying kid gets on your nerves. Maybe he has stomach cramps and is in pain but is too young to say he’s hurting so all he can do is cry. Or the driver who suddenly slammed on the brakes didn’t do it so you’d hit them, but was trying to avoid hitting another car that pulled out in front of them. When you only look at what’s making you lose your patience from your own point of view, it’s easy to let negative emotions take control. But when you take the time to look at it from another’s point of view, then it’s easier to remain patient and let things happen as they will.

Losing patience can teach lessons. If you’re always late and impatient with the drivers on the way to work, you can easily solve the problem by leaving your house earlier. Look for solutions on your end to help you be more patient and understanding. You can learn a lot about yourself by examining how you handle situations where a little patience could go a long way. Are you being rigid, intolerant, and unforgiving when it comes to an unexpected delay? If you were more flexible, tolerant, and forgiving, then maybe you wouldn’t lose your temper. Being patient can also help you make better decisions. When you take time to look at a situation from multiple points of view then you’re less likely to make the wrong decision because you didn’t take time to think it through.

Patience is a powerful skill you can learn. It’s all about managing your emotions, timing your reactions and actions so they will have the greatest positive effect to help you attain what you want. When you learn how to be patient, how to wait your turn, and how to see the bigger picture, then you have more power and control over your life. Being impatient leads to rash actions you might regret later, while being patient enables you to think things through, make wise decisions, and take the appropriate action.

Practicing Patience

So if you tend to be impatient, how can you become more patient? You have to figure out what sets you off. Does a slow driver put you in a rage? Does waiting in line cause you to lose your mind? Once you know what triggers your impatience you can do something about it. If you know waiting in long lines sets you off, then either pick the shortest line you can find or come back to do the task another day. If you can’t come back another day, resolve yourself to waiting and do something mentally until it’s your turn. Once when I found myself getting annoyed at the length of time I had to wait, I started counting the ceiling tiles. You might think that’s silly but it gave my mind something to do, it distracted me from the time I was having to wait and by the time I’d gotten to two-hundred, it was my turn. I’ve also chosen to read the labels on the groceries, or even start a conversation with someone else in line with me about something totally unrelated to having to wait.

Different people have different signs that let them know when they’re about to blow. You may start sweating, gritting your teeth, feeling irritable or short-tempered, or start taking short shallow breaths. Just as you figured out what triggers impatience for you, figure out the signs you start to show when you’re about to lose your patience. By doing this you can prevent it.

Patience can help you become stress free, have a better, happier attitude, feel more powerful and self-confident. It can help you turn negatives into positives, sadness into happiness, and bring to life more than you ever imagined possible. Not only will you treat yourself better when you’re patient, but you’ll treat others better as well because you will be more compassionate. It will be easier to accept situations as they happen without starting a fight about it. Better yet, if you use creative visualization you can foresee any future problems and plan accordingly to prevent them from happening.

Practicing the Law of Patience changes how others view you. Have you ever seen an impatient person and thought they seemed arrogant, as if their issue was the only one at hand? I have and it’s not fun dealing with those types of people because they can be insensitive to everyone else’s feelings but their own. It’s very difficult to achieve goals when you’re acting like this and pushing people away, even people who could potentially help you accomplish your goals. Learn to practice patience so you can get along well with others, understand multiple points of view, achieve all you desire, and be in harmony with yourself and everything happening around you.

Try It Now

A good way to learn to practice patience is through your breathing. If you find yourself feeling stressed, frazzled, or on edge, take a moment to monitor yourself through deep breaths. You can be standing, sitting, or in the middle of doing anything when you do this exercise. Anytime you’re aware that your mood isn’t the best it could be or that you’re short on patience, take a deep breath. As you slowly inhale imagine the air filled with calming white light, on the exhale imagine all the stress, anxiety and frustration leaving your system. Do this multiple times until you feel calmness settling over you, restoring your ability to be patient. Once you feel more centered and balanced, continue with whatever you were doing.

Practical Application Tips

See Also Chapter 32: The Law of Discipline

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