“How the Child Thinks and the Way the Teacher Reacts” – Part 4 – Skills on Patience

*Patience can be developed over time — it’s a habit, and like any other habits, it just takes some focus.

Patience has several skills:
1. The first skill is for you to have the ability to divide a big aim into small ones and to move ahead step by step. You are to aim at the small goals with the same perseverance as with the big ones.

2. The second skill is to have an ability to not give up after the first attempt. Actually, it’s determination that does it. Do not think that you are worse than anybody else if you cannot figure out the problem. If at first you do not succeed, try, try, and try again. You can stop trying only in one case – when you lose interest in your goal…and find a new one.

3. The third skill is to have an ability to do everything from beginning to end. Actually, perfectionism is a part of patience. To see how often you try to make everything perfect it is useful to step back and look at your work from the outside. Do this as impartially as if you evaluated the work of somebody else. Your inner inspector comes to power to accept or reject your progress. One more thing: to play the role of a person whose opinion you value and to check your work one more time.

4. The fourth skill is to wait. Wait without worrying. The highest point of patience is to wait without thinking about it.

Next week, we take a look at kindness!