How to Practice Patience
By Mark Gladden — Published: 2024-02-02 — Updated: 2026-07-11
Categories: Recovery
Early recovery asks a lot of a person. You are rebuilding trust, adjusting to a new routine, and learning to sit with uncomfortable feelings — all at once. One of the hardest things to learn in recovery is how to wait. That’s why this article is about _practicing_ patience. No one is perfect, and many people work on their character defects a day at a time.
Patience in Early Recovery
Life in early sobriety can feel like it’s moving in slow motion. You may feel like everyone else has moved on while you are standing still, waiting for things to get better.
Recovery takes time. Progress is real, but it is rarely fast enough to satisfy the restless mind that addiction leaves behind. The hardest part of early recovery for most people is not knowing exactly when things will improve. You get up and face a day full of unknowns. You don’t drink or use. You do your best. For many people – maybe even you – this doesn’t feel like enough. It can feel like you’ve had to press the pause button on your life, and that time is slipping away.
The truth is that patience is a skill, and like any skill, it can be practiced and improved. Learning to tolerate discomfort and delay — to live life on life’s terms — is central to lasting sobriety.
It makes sense that learning how to be patient can help bring serenity to anxiety-provoking situations. You’re powerless, after all, over other people, places, and things. And when you’re dealing with other people, especially employers or family, impatience can make an already difficult situation harder.
How to Practice Patience
Are you an impatient person? Are you quick to “freak out” or anger when you find out you have to wait for something you consider essential? Often people are impatient because they are anxious or upset about other things.
Here are some ways you can begin to practice patience in recovery:
- Do breathing exercises. Don’t focus on the situation but instead focus on how your body feels as you inhale and exhale deeply. Feel your belly extend and retract. Do this for at least ten full breaths (in and out) before you open your eyes again, if possible. Learn more about breathing exercises here.
- Say the serenity prayer. (Not everyone feels comfortable with prayer at this time, but if you believe in a higher power, the serenity prayer can help you let things go.) _God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference._
- If you have to wait, plan to use the time wisely. There’s nothing wrong with taking a book to the DMV or doctor’s office and reading while you wait. Work on your step work, study for a class, or spend time doing something leisurely and relaxing like listening to meditation music. Distraction can help make waiting easier.
- If you lose your cool, apologize for it, and move on. Everyone gets upset once in a while, and nobody is perfect. Go ahead and apologize if you snap or blow up at somebody. We’re all human, and it’s okay to make mistakes.
Sober Living Options
Living with others in a structured, safe, and supportive environment can help newcomers build skills and learn life on its terms. Sober living homes provide the kind of daily routine and peer accountability that make practicing patience — and recovery itself — more manageable. You can explore the daily schedule at By the Sea Recovery to see what a structured recovery day looks like, or browse the recovery blog for more on building healthy habits in sobriety.
If you are looking for structured sober living in North County San Diego, we would be glad to talk. Check Availability or call 760-216-2077.
Tags: impatient, living, patience, recovery, serenity prayer, sober
Ready to take the next step? Call By the Sea Recovery at 760-216-2077 or contact us online.