Impatient Tai Chi Student

I am impatient. I know that now.

I have been impatient for a very long time. And I am in denial for a very long time as well. You see, I thought I was patient. Whenever I am with someone else, I can appear to be very patient. Because someone else will not affect me very much. Until someone makes a mistake that affects me.

But that’s ok.

The first step towards coping with impatience, is to recognise that you are impatient. If you don’t recognise impatience yourself, you won’t be able to see your impatience. You won’t be able to hear your impatience.

No matter how much other people tell you that you’re impatient, you won’t be able to feel that you’re impatient until something bad happens that’ll make you regret your impatience.

Recognise your impatience. Don’t regret it.

Sometimes, I’m glad I’m impatient.

When I’m impatient, I get rid of noise.

When I’m impatient, I scrub away the dirt so hard that they do not have a chance to be dirt.

When I’m impatient, I focus on my passion, and only my passion.

Nothing else comes close.

Focus on your passion.

Focus on the one thing that you want to do when you’re impatient.

Suddenly, impatience doesn’t seem so bad after all.

Being impatient drives me.

Being impatient fuels me.

Being impatient allows me to make things happen.

Sometimes, it is good to be impatient. This is where I see myself grow out of frustration. This is how I grow beyond my current limits.

Upon this accelerated growth, other people gets hurt along the way. The environment gets hurt along the way. This is the cost of impatience. This is the cost of doing a reactive action rather than a positive action.

To learn to use impatience in a way that generates positive action is the key to overcoming impatience.

You don’t overcome impatience. You use it to your advantage.

In the heat of the moment, all you can do is just be impatient. You can’t learn to be calm and peaceful at those times. It’s too late to learn to be patient.

You can try to increase your tolerance for stress before it happens. And how do you increase your tolerance for stress?

Tai Chi has been the answer for me. It allows me to practise tolerance at a time of my own choice. It allows me to impose just the right level of stress that I can tolerate so that I can grow my tolerance level one bit at a time.

What is your answer?

I was impatient

I am still impatient

But now, I am an impatient Tai Chi student

using strategies I learnt from Tai Chi

I hope to be more patient

than what I was before

I am still learning Tai Chi

I am still learning how to be patient

I hope to bring some sanity to this impatient world

Read more about me here.