Let go if you can't do anything about the situation.
If there isn't anything that you can do to resolve whatever has triggered your impatience, just let it go. Easier said than done, yes, but it's possible, and it's the only healthy thing to do.
Initially, you will probably find it difficult to let go if the matter is important to you — waiting to hear back after a job interview, for instance — but you should be able to alleviate impatience that's caused by issues of less consequence (i.e. waiting in line at the grocery store).
If you make a concerted effort to be more patient in relatively inconsequential, short-term situations, you'll gradually develop the strength to remain patient in even the most trying and enduring situations.
Look for patterns.
Being aware of your impatience also gives you a chance to learn from it and perhaps uncover a relationship or circumstance that is simply not healthy or constructive, and that you may have the power to change. Figure that out, and you can then think logically about the problem issue and decide whether or not your impatience is warranted or helpful. It usually isn't, but when it is you can then figure out ways to fix the root problem rather than simply feeling stressed about it.
Pinpoint the triggers that often influence you to lose your patience.
Impatience creeps in insidiously, and if you feel anxious, worried, or unhappy you may not even realize that the underlying cause of these feelings is impatience. To reduce the frequency of impatience, it helps to be aware of it.
Which events, people, phrases or circumstances always seem to influence you lose your cool? Sit down and make a list of all the things which cause you anxiety, tension, or frustration. At the core of most triggers is a reality that we have a hard time accepting. What are those realities for you?
Try to figure out why you are in such a hurry. For example: waiting for an important party to start! We tend to lose our patience when we're multitasking or when we're on a tight schedule, expecting the day to pass within only a few short minutes of busyness and chaos.
If you're stretching yourself too thin, you should reconsider your to-do list before you attempt to change your natural reaction to an overwhelming situation.
Try to spread out your tasks so that you're doing only one thing at a time, without leaving yourself twiddling your thumbs in eagerness of something to busy yourself with.
Delegate responsibilities to others if you can; this in itself may be a test of your patience, but you have to learn to share the load.
One big problem with man is that his thoughts far exceed his request. Sometimes, lack of faith makes man to ask for less than he could. For example, you may have it in your thoughts to own an estate but in the place of prayer all you could muster faith to ask God for is a house. Our thoughts include more than we dare to ask in our prayers; our dreams exceed what we consciously desire. God answers prayer; He even answers unspoken prayers. God can act beyond our ability to ask or even imagine.
Why do you limit God in your prayers? There are people in the scriptures that dared ask God seemingly impossible things and He answered them. Can you think of one of them? Who told you that which looks like a mountain before God cannot be handled by Him? No wonder that song writer says, "…oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pains we bear; all because we do not carry EVERYTHING to God in prayers."
God is able to do infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope—more than we would dare to imagine. God is far above and beyond our finite minds. God is able because of his mighty power.
Let us expand our expectations of what grace is all about. First grace is not a genie in the bottle. It is not let me go and do whatever feels good and then I will rub the magic bottle and out will pop the grace genie and all will be forgiven, thinking then I can continue to do whatever I want as long as I have the bottle.
Grace is not grace to sin but grace to forgive sin in pursuit of perfection.
Let's start believing that God’s grace is for all people regardless of race, religion, creed, OR DEED. His grace is for all people. NO WONDER THE SONG WRITER CALLS IT AMAZING GRACE!
Right now think about the person you have a hard time seeing God save and know that HE IS ABLE TO DO ABUNDANTLY
Let us expand our expectation of what God is able to do in our lives. So many times we seem to feel as though if God had a totem pole we would be the low man or woman on the totem pole.
We dare not think big or dream big because big thinking can lead to big failure and big failure can lead to big embarrassment and big embarrassment leads to a pride issue…
Your age is not a prerequisite for doing something great for God. David was a young man when he single handedly defeated the Philistines because when they saw what he did to Goliath they took off running. Your education is not a prerequisite for doing something great for God. Don’t think because you didn’t graduate from school that you could never do something great for God. David spent his time in a field-watching sheep, not at Harvard.
God can do great things through ordinary people. In fact He prefers ordinary people because that way there is no debate over who is in control and deserves the credit.
ask God what it is that He would have you do and not allow your limitations in life to hinder your expectations. He can do abundantly more than you could ask or think.
