Mindfulness Matters – Patience (Part 3 in the Series)

Patience is not passive waiting. Patience is active acceptance of the process required to attain your goals and dreams.”

~ Ray Davis

We need to have patience to learn something new. Learning how to be mindful is no different. Our minds want to think — constantly! They are designed to do that. We have to train them to stay in the present moment as much as possible, just noticing what’s happening NOW. At first our minds behave like a baby learning to walk, but like the baby, we can’t give up! The baby tries over and over learning how to walk, falling down many times, but doesn’t tell itself, “Well, I guess I’m just not supposed to be a walker!” For great entertainment and a good laugh, watch this YouTube video:

Patience and persistence are “kissing cousins”. There will be some discomfort perhaps when you are trying to meditate and your mind keeps wandering. It may be quite irritating to accept that you just can’t do it perfectly at the start, but it will be worth it in the end, as you become aware of where your mind is roaming and patiently bring it back to focus on the present moment.

In Part 2 of this series, we talked about being non-judgmental. Here’s the perfect opportunity to practice that! You are not a success or failure at being mindful. Success can be seen in your determination to keep trying, because success is inevitable if you don’t give up.

Patience has long been considered a virtue, but in our modern society, it seems too passive or weak. However, it becomes necessary if you want to cultivate mindfulness, and is crucial to well-being and effectiveness.

According to Mitch Abblett in an article he wrote for the website mindful.org, there are three mindful components we can use to build patience:

Cultivating acceptance of what is actually here in the present moment
Getting clear around the very real fact that everything changes, and …
Not getting stuck on believing that you are separate, an “island unto yourself”