A very good friend of mine had an unfortunate incident a few weeks ago. She slipped off a tiny, very low, seemingly insignificant step outside her kitchen, sprained her ankle, and landed in a heap. This unfortunate incident left her in deep pain, completely unable to go about her usual daily routine, which understandably caused her much frustration.

I spoke to her yesterday morning, only to hear that she had sought specialized medical attention since the healing hadn't happened as it should—or perhaps as she had expected it to. It turned out that a thin bone from her pinky toe to her ankle had fractured, hence the slow recovery. She now has to wear a moon boot and keep her foot still for three weeks.

I was, of course, sympathizing with her, but at the same time I just couldn't resist the life coach in me—so I also encouraged her to use this opportunity to practice patience during this trial.

That's when I thought it would be good to share today's message about patience and offer some thoughts and ideas about it. Having patience and demonstrating patience is definitely easier said than done. I'm sure you'll agree with me. Patience is certainly a virtue, and I don't know about you, but it's something I constantly have to work on.

Let's look at the meaning of the word patience. As a noun, it's defined as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.

A similar-sounding word, spelled a little differently, is "patient," which can be used as an adjective or a noun. As an adjective, it has the same meaning as patience.

As a noun, a patient is any recipient of health care services performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, or other healthcare provider.

My dear friend clearly qualifies as a patient. Now this is the case of the patient being patient...

Underlying both definitions is the sense of being in a state of discomfort. Another synonym for patient is "long-suffering." Suffering also implies discomfort, pain, distress, agony, and being unsettled.

So what are we talking about when we say we have to develop our patience?

In today's instant world, it can be a very challenging concept. Let's just look at a few examples:

• With Checkers 60 minutes, you can order your groceries and have them delivered to your front door within an hour.
• You can immediately Google answers to every possible question you might have.
• All your banking transactions are available at the tip of your fingers.

We're really living in an instant world.

We simply don't like to wait. Not at red traffic lights, not while queuing at the cashier, not waiting for nail polish to dry—I always smudge mine. We don't like waiting for that promotion, for the right life partner, or for someone who's running a little late for our 4 o'clock appointment.

I want to suggest that patience means becoming familiar with the state of discomfort. Sounds silly, but let's unpack it a bit more. Patience asks us to:

• Be comfortable with being uncomfortable for the duration of that specific situation
• Work through it
• Be okay with it
• Stand it out, bear with it, and even try to embrace it
• Wait—yes, simply learn to wait. To look at waiting as an opportunity for growing your character, an opportunity to bloom where you are planted, right there in your discomfort...

Remember, life isn't perfect. There will always be times, situations, and incidents that cause various degrees of discomfort. But the trick is to accept this as normal. To learn to tolerate it—that is, the willingness and ability to coexist with something, opinions, and behavior you don't agree with or dislike. I'm not suggesting you sell your soul to accommodate it or change your viewpoint or values on important matters.

No matter what, you just can't control what life throws at you, but through your thinking, you have a choice and can control how you deal with it.

My invitation to you today is this: next time you encounter a situation that requires your patience, stand back, reflect on it, and consciously decide to wait it out—to practice that patience muscle of yours.

Trust me, like any other muscle in your body, the more you exercise it, the stronger it will get.

4 Steps to Take Away:

1. Recognize and accept the cause of the discomfort and why you are impatient—the situation
2. Ask yourself: What am I thinking about this situation? What are my thoughts and emotions about the situation causing the discomfort?
3. Ask yourself: What is the cost of impatience—emotional, physical, relational, health-wise—of being impatient with this situation?
• Is it going to raise your blood pressure?
• Is it going to lead to an unnecessary fallout?
• Is it going to result in you being rude to the person behind the till, or to your child?
• Is it worth it?
4. Make a conscious decision to change how you're going to deal with it. Change your thinking. You can choose. You have control over your thoughts. And thoughts lead to emotions, which lead to behavior—the cognitive behavioral model.

Take my friend. She could have chosen to feel sorry for herself, relive the episode over and over again, wishing it had never happened. Or she could choose to accept it and make the best of it. This is her reality for now.

I always like to choose the option of "look on the bright side—it could have been much worse"—and then express my gratitude that it's not that bad. There is always something to be thankful for.