Many good things have been ruined by a lack of patience. Any project whether short term or long term needs a plan. A good plan has targets and measures, a way to know how well we’re doing. If we have established a plan, we’re working towards it and we are meeting our targets why would we choose to abandon the plan mid-way? The only explanation for this kind of decision is a lack of patience.

It is very difficult for us to distinguish ourselves in a short period of time — if easy fixes were available nobody would suffer. That being the case, all we have is the possibility of finding a way out of suffering over the long-term. With that reality in mind, we can see how a lack of patience is a major problem. Without patience we will miss out on the many benefits that will come to us if we could only just wait for them. In other words, we are the victims of our own lack of patience. Thankfully there is a way that we can avoid falling prey to this troublesome difficulty.

If we have mindfulness as a guide (that is, mental noting in the present moment) then we will notice when impatience is coming on. That may sound like a trivial step but noting how we are feeling is the first step to overcoming difficulty. Secondly noting brings the mind back into the present moment to remind ourselves how we’re doing now and our state of progress compared to our plan. Once we see that we are doing just fine, then we can recognize that there is no need to be impatient. The impatient feeling is just a hindrance to our progress and should not be allowed to obstruct us. When we avoid this obstruction, the path towards success is cleared and we can continue our journey towards happiness.

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(6) Progress Slowly