Impatience

Happiness is feeling many seek.  Unfortunately happiness is an ideal we are not able to achieve except for a few moments of laughter, passion or joy.  A realistic goal is to be not unhappy.  Feeling not unhappy is something anyone can do consistently for hours, days and weeks.  There are many feelings we can have about life so that we can maintain ourselves in a state of being not unhappy.

Patience is also a feeling many seek.  Again, patience is an ideal we are not able to achieve consistently.  We experience very few moments when we feel we have time to listen to someone, wait for a response or silently enjoy being in someone else’s presence.  A realistic goal is to be not impatient in the moment.  Feeling not impatient is something anyone can do.  There are many feelings we can have about life so that we can maintain ourselves in a state of being not impatient.

Being impatient can be a symptom of an intuitive personality.  An intuitive person will take a few facts and make a leap to come to a conclusion. This can be very frustrating for someone interested in following procedures and having all the facts before making a decision.  The quintessential intuitive was Albert Einstein whose fanciful thought experiments revolutionized the 20th century. He could see patterns where others saw randomness or chaos.

Being impatient can be a symptom of too much caffeine or stress, frustration building up over time or relationships not working well.  Significant emotional events can lead to impatience with others. Impatience with others can be a way of attempting to control their behavior because they learn to be afraid of how a person might react.  People learn to withhold information if someone is always impatient and reacts in a negative manner when others are speaking.

Stop, look and listen are useful actions for being not impatient.  Stop talking, look at the other person and listen to understand the meaning behind what they are saying.