"Patience
is not learned in safety. It is not learned when everything is
harmonious and going well. When everything is smooth sailing, who needs
patience? If you stay in your room with the door locked and the curtains
drawn, everything may seem harmonious, but the minute anything doesn’t
go your way, you blow up. There is no cultivation of patience when your
pattern is to just try to seek harmony and smooth everything out.
Patience implies willingness to be alive rather than trying to seek
harmony."
Source: The Pocket Pema Chödrön, page 72