Practicing one enhances the other
Patience, couldn’t we all use a little more? It’s not easy, especially when everything happens at once. Your credit card is lost, which puts you on hold with security at the bank. Throw in the pandemic. You are frustrated at the very thought of all the inconvenience before you and you still have to work, eat and sleep.
How can we ever have enough time?
Is there ever enough?
How can you make this one moment expand to feel like much more? We all only get this one moment. Use it well. Use it to grow your patience.
Here’s how:
- Stop and breathe
- Tell yourself exactly what you are doing
- Focus on all 5 your senses, one at a time
- Repeat
Using these basics, I have given myself the gift of knowing each moment more fully.
Have I gotten more time? Absolutely not.
Have I felt less rushed and as if each moment was more significant? Yes, without a doubt.
Getting ready for work is always a scramble.
Change my clothes, pack my lunch, brush my teeth, eat something…I allow myself to start an hour ahead of my expected leave time, and yet I struggle not to feel rushed.
Stop
I take a breath and consider my thoughts. Am I rushing? Feeling rushed? Anxious?
I intentionally slow down my breathing and focus on it.
Just stop. Feel it. Then let it go. Accept it as normal, but make choices based on those feelings.
Choose a better way to feel.
Self-Talk is Key
Instead of saying, “SH!t, where does time go? How am I going to get it done?” I intentionally say, “This is what it feels like to live a very full life. This is how it feels to wish I had more time.”
Instead of thinking about what I want to wear as I throw together a salad, I stop and tell myself “I am chopping lettuce. I am slicing tomatoes. This is how it feels to prepare a good meal for me. This is how it feels to prepare for a better day. This is how it feels to…
