Bhagvad Gita

Everyone agrees that patience is the key to developing and sustaining good relation with others. Still, most people I know aren't patient enough. Many times I'm not patient enough myself. How to cultivate patience?

One way is to meditate.

Meditation is not a dialog with yourself. Meditation is not thinking or concentrating on a particular topic. Meditation is a state where the mind stops thinking, and it gets "rest". An average person's mind never stops thinking, it gets tired after a while. It doesn't even stop during sleep. Therefore, we must practice meditation frequently to give rest to the restless mind.

How to meditate:

1. Best done in early morning hours
2. Wake up, brush your teeth, answer nature's call, take a shower
3. Dress in loose, light clothing
4. Ensure a private, quiet, dimly lit environment
5. Sit on the floor in Yoga position
6. Close your eyes
7. Concentrate on your breathing
8. Soon you will stop thinking everything, all that remains is a feeling of your own breathing.
9. If you fall asleep during meditation, it's okay. It means your mind was very tired and meditation gave it so much rest that it slept off. Gradually you will be able to keep awake during meditation.

In decision analysis, we value several factors to make an objective decision. Quite some mathematics goes inside, as does lot of logic. A good decision is one which is most likely to result in a favorable outcome.

However, in prospect, even if the decision taken results in a bad outcome, still it remains a good decision because it was calculated to yield the highest possible chance of success.

This sounds very similar to the central principle of Gita: Perform your duty well without caring about the results.