Last update: October 09, 2017
Impatience is a characteristic of our times. There is an ambiguous attitude regarding this issue. If hundreds of articles and documents of various kinds promote the idea of a calmer attitude towards life, at the same time, society values everything that allows you to do something at a greater speed.
We've come to the point of panicking for five seconds of delay in connecting to the internet, not to mention the degree of intolerance we have when someone delays leaving after the light turns green.
It is important to emphasize that impatience is a behavior learned. Although there are organisms that, on a physiological level, react with greater dynamism in certain circumstances, this does not lead to a lack of patience. Culture and education are the factors that inculcate this inability to wait or tolerate for something to proceed slowly.
“Patience is the strength of the weak, impatience the weakness of the strong”.
- Immanuel Kant-
Impatience is associated with the inability to tolerate frustration. Not getting the desired result quickly at first has no reason to cause concern. However, we find ourselves in a position where on the one hand there is a social demand for speed in whatever we do, on the other hand, education tends to dissociate effort from results. The idea is fomented that each of us must get what he wants and in the shortest possible time, take it or leave it.
Immediacy and impatience
The emotional perception of time has undergone major changes lately. There is a real overestimation of the present. The idea of the here and now is remarkably emphasized. For this reason, the absence of immediate results usually becomes a source of anguish. This connotation of the present as something that goes faster than what we are doing, therefore, only fills us with anxiety.
The medium and long term concepts have spread and extended to many people. We no longer attach much value to processes and, therefore, to results. There is a rush in everything and the idea that time is scarce and that it cannot be "wasted" has become popular. Time has therefore acquired importance as an indicator of competitiveness.
Until a few years ago, the delay did not have a negative connotation. It was accepted as a natural factor, especially for some performances related to creativity. It was assumed that there were processes that took more time than others and, for this reason, they let themselves flow without accelerating them. Nowadays, it is almost impossible; which is why many go in search of the technique, method or shortcut that will lead them more quickly to the goal they have set for themselves.
The irritation and impulsiveness of the impatient
Impatience is that drawer in which, drop by drop, tension builds up. What is stretched is the rope whose extremes are the effort invested on one side and the desired result on the other. Between the two there is a period of time that many want to shorten as much as possible.
Those who are impatient usually stagnate in a constant state of irritation. People who suffer from a kind of time avarice. They want everything to happen quickly, but this speed is never enough for them. If they take two minutes to do something, they would like to take one. And so on. Since it is not possible for everything to happen instantly, a state of anger and tension is generated.
It is also common for impatient people to behave impulsively. Their obsession with speed becomes a necessity in any context. They don't stop to think about what to do or what to say. They are made to act, although they have to back down afterwards. The irritation present as an underlying scenario contributes to this.
Overcoming the states of impatience
Impatience is not part of our genes or of our constitution as human beings. As we said before, it is a learned behavior. From this point of view, it is also It is possible to re-educate emotions so that they correspond to a more constructive way of acting. There are several ways to achieve this, but one of the most effective is simply to practice being patient.
First of all, it is about adopting a slower and more peaceful personal pace, without getting discouraged. It is good to start, for example, with breathing exercises. Five minutes a day for breathe, slowly and deeply. Such a simple act establishes different times in heartbeats and brain activity. This way, when we have to go slower or are forced to wait, we will stop feeling like we are wasting time.
It is worth cultivating patience because the more serene we are, the better chance we will have of obtaining a good result. We will be able to plan time better and be less clumsy in emotional reactions. It will even allow us to increase the precious feeling of control of ourselves and we will avoid doing and then undoing, saying and then denying ourselves, deciding and then repenting. Find situations that force you to wait a bit. If your case is not pathological, this will be enough to re-educate your ability to wait.
