I love the adage ‘good things take time’.

But then how is it that in today’s society of interconnectedness, being on rather than off, we have a bad case of impatience. 

How do you know you have a waiting problem? 

Photo © Jenn Shallvey

In the virtual world, you know you have an impatience problem when:

• you think your computer takes to long to turn on and load,
• you call a person and you think answer after three rings or voicemail is slow,
• you send an email and don’t get an immediate response.

Or what about in the physical world, where impatience means you can't stand it when you:

• have to ‘take a number’ to be served,
• wait behind a line of other people to get something you want now,
• get stuck in traffic and miss the light, 
• arrive late to work because the bus schedule wasn't accurate.    

These may seem like silly examples and on a blog post nothing more than everyday problems. Yet in reality take one of these situations, add a few more, a little dose of stress or pressure and you have the formula for a personal disaster.

By personal disaster I mean letting it get to you and doing the opposite of what you need to do. 

In response to such situations the best remedy is patience, calmness and centeredness. Easier said than done.  Yet if our senses are heightened we can be triggered into the impatience and ensuing emotional responses.