Being a Winner: Patience
For many people who have set themselves a goal that they passionately desire, accepting that everything takes its own proper time is a hard lesson to learn. They want to speed things up, hurry them along, get there quickly and move on. Patience teaches us that, to do things effortlessly, we must work with the pace rather than force it. A crew of oarsmen cannot win a boat race simply by rowing faster; they need to row in time with each other and this means rowing slower. That's why one of the ingredients to being a winner is to be patient. The following story shows how patience produced one of the greatest potters who ever lived.
Patience: Takashi Oyama and the Potter's Wheel
When the great Japanese potter Takashi Oyama was a young apprentice, he went to the acknowledged master Shoji Hamada and begged him to take him on as his pupil. Hamada eventually agreed but instead of pouring out all his wisdom and skill to the young boy, he insisted that for the first six months Oyama should do nothing else but observe him at work. When he had accomplished this, Hamada allowed the boy to do the kneading of the raw clay - but nothing else - for a whole year. At the end of 18 months, Hamada allowed the boy his first contact with the potter's wheel but he taught him nothing by means of words or explanation. In time, and when he was ready for it, Oyama learnt the art of his craft and became the most celebrated and successful potter in Japan. Patience was Oyama's route to being a winner.
Patience: Being a Winner
Many of us become impatient in response to things not going the way we want. It's a form of irritation and even anger. So here are some tips on learning to become more patient.
1. start by noticing what makes you impatient by keeping a diary and making tally marks in the diary every time you lose your patience.
2. using your diary, recognise what makes you impatient. Is it someone who works with you or a member of the family? What do they do to set you off?
3. when your impatience is triggered, instead of the habit of impatience, substitute a new habit such as counting to 10, taking time out, or taking several deep breaths. Practise this at least 20 times in order for it to stick. Gradually, make the response longer and longer.
4. underpin your new habit by putting things into perspective by recognising what's important in life. It's rarely the things you tend to get impatient about.
5. go with the natural speed of things, not your version of how quickly things should be done. After a while, you'll find that, when you work with things, rather than with your view of things, they turn out far more successful than you ever thought possible. Plus, you'll feel more relaxed than ever.
6. on the odd occasions when you revert back to your old ways of losing your patience, laugh at yourself for being human.
7. love the more patient you that you've become and stretch your patience so far that impatience is no longer part of the way you act. As Michelangelo said, "Genius is eternal patience".
Online Features on Patience
One of our favourite pieces on Patience comes from Chuck Gallozzi at personal-development.com .
From wikiHow, here are Steps, Video, tips and a warning on being patient.
28 quotes on patience from quotationspage.com.