The Power of Patience: How This Old-Fashioned Virtue Can Improve Your Life

When we believe in a happy future, we can wait more calmly now. This takes faith—in ourselves, our partners, our God, the benevolence of the universe—because we have no guarantee one way or another. We must live as if it will turn out, without knowing precisely how it will end up. And that is not always easy, particularly when there’s a lot at stak

The most important thing to know is that patience is something you do, not something you have or don’t have.

life will turn out exactly as we want it. Businesses and relationships fail; the stock market goes down as well as up. Ultimately our faith asks us to believe that even if it doesn’t turn out the way we wanted, it still is for the best—we

“When pain strikes, we often ask the wrong questions, such as Why me? The right questions are, What can I learn from this? What can I do about it? What can I accomplish in spite of it?”

Impatience is a habit; so is patience. To change a habit, we need strong motivation, which comes from knowing the rewards that come from the new behavior.

Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, but not in the one ahead.

Or perhaps the other person represents an aspect of ourselves that we’ve disowned. In psychological terms, this phenomenon is called projection. We get impatient with others who represent aspects of ourselves that we have pushed away or are angry we don’t have.

“When you are angry, you’re carrying the burden while the other person is out dancing.” The more we cultivate patience, the less anger we carry and the more dancing we’ll feel like doing.

“Judging others will avail you nothing and injure you spiritually. Only if you inspire others to judge themselves will anything worthwhile have been accomplished.”