Be Empowered ~ Patience

Patience - tolerant and even-tempered perseverance.

Nature sets the very best example of patience. Everything moves at a certain pace in the natural rhythms of life. A year takes 365 days to complete. It simply cannot be rushed. An acorn can only become a tree with tolerant and even-tempered perseverance.

I use to say, "I wish I had more patience." Each time I thought I was consciously saying a prayer, and yet each time I was challenged with more opportunities to be patient. I explained this problem to my mentor and she told me to revise my wording. “Try saying, I have plenty of patience." Although this seemed ridiculous, I reluctantly tried and within a very short amount of time I found that I had indeed become more tolerant and even-tempered. Better still, it seemed as if there were less times I was experiencing the need for patience.

I began to look at other common phrases I often said. Another favorite was, “I don’t have time…” or “I need more time.” But the thing about time is, we are all allotted the exact same amount each day. Unless of course it is the day we are being born or dying.

Once, while looking at my calendar I was trying to write something in between appointments and thought, I need more space. It occurred to me to start substituting the word “space” for the word “time”. It helped me to visualize time as an object made up of units. How I used the units were up to me. When I looked at it this way I began to subconsciously budget my time differently. Saying I don’t have time is much like saying I don’t have patience. Space became available and I was becoming more tolerant and even tempered.

Empowerment Exercise

Replace the words “I need more…” with the words “I have plenty of…”

Replace the word “time” with “space”.

Listen to how you phrase things and see if you can adjust your words.

Be Empowered!

"I have plenty of time."