If you happen to be married to someone who drives you nuts at times, you understand the need for patience. You know intellectually that you need more patience, but emotionally, you struggle to find it. What do you do?
It’s not easy to become someone you feel you’re not, but when it comes to what’s best for your marriage, becoming patient is definitely something to strive for. “Patience is a virtue,” the old cliché tells you, but your human nature fights it for all its worth, especially when your spouse irritates you.
Do you appreciate when someone is impatient with you? Of course not. It makes you feel anxious. It’s as if everything goes wrong because you know the person is irritated with you and impatiently wants you to do something that you may not be ready to do at the time. The first rule to follow is to treat your spouse the way you want to be treated.
Secondly, it’s important to remember not everyone operates at the same speed. Those who get impatient quickly are usually those who operate at a faster speed. When it comes to your spouse, you just have to let them do things at their own speed. Even if that speed is very slow, you need to figure out a way to let go of the need to control how soon they get things done.
Thirdly, it might be time for you to slow down and enjoy a slower pace for a change. Why are you in such a hurry? Why do you need everything done at your level of performance? Take time to relax and catch up with the one you love. Change your pace a little to match theirs.
Finally, if your impatience has more to do with your spouse’s quirks, remember you have quirks, too. If you feel the need to communicate the need for change, be ready to change, too. After all, she may not like the fact that you squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom of the tube, and he may like the toilet paper on the roll the opposite of the way you normally place do it. All in all, most irritating quirks are trivial at best, so keep everything in perspective with love and understanding at the forefront of your attitude and approach.