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By Angela Kelly

Staying patient is apparently viewed as a more positive trait by others. Research suggests that people who can stay calm in the face of these constant, petty frustrations are more likely to be empathetic, have a more even temperament and suffer less from depression.

So if you think you’re going to blow a gasket, just breathe, keep your temper and wait patiently.

Patience is definitely a virtue

HAVE you noticed how short-tempered we’ve become as a nation?

That famous British cool – the stiff upper lip and stoic approach –seem largely to have faded away in favour of impatience, temper and an unwillingness to understand the other person’s point of view.

Take to the road and you’ll see how quickly other drivers push to get past you, even if you’re keeping to the speed limit and sensible about driving conditions.

Road rage is now pretty common on a daily basis. According to police figures, there has been a steep rise since 2012 and in one recent year alone there were 18,605 road rage incidents recorded around Britain.

Queue anywhere and you’ll quickly winkle out the impatient people. Grumbling turns to raised voices in no time – and this from a nation so used to queuing post-war that our stoicism was the envy of the world.

In fact, it was hearing about a shocking incident in a Lidl store which reminded me how short tempers have actually become.

A woman waiting in the checkout queue felt another customer was taking too long and ended up screaming and shouting at him.

Worse, when another woman spoke up for him, asking her to calm down, the woman turned her ire on her …. chucking broccoli at her, bizarrely after scanning it first!

Patience is the ability to stay calm while you’re waiting for an outcome that you need or want. According to psychology experts, it comes in three main varieties: interpersonal patience, life hardship patience and daily hassles patience.

I suspect the latter causes the most problems for people and the advice is to focus to achieve what you want and to keep your emotions under control.

Self-discipline is the key here so we probably need to practise this skill more than others.

Yes, life can be irritating and make us impatient but we do need to keep a sense of proportion.

Pets with millions of online followers

LIKE many people of my generation, it has taken a while to get my head around online influencers and their many followers. But just when that all seemed logical, along come ANIMALS with millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok.

Yes, there are cats and dogs out there in cyberspace who are followed regularly by excited people all over the planet. Nor is it just followers they gain but often lucrative contracts for everything from petfood lines to their own feline fashions and doggy accessories.

They sometimes come in twos and threes. Darren and Phillip, alias the blueboys, are two bubbly Staffordshire bull terriers with more than 300,000 followers on TikTok and close to 10 million likes.

They wear cute dog outfits and followers are fascinated by their daily lives.

For bird enthusiasts, Wolfie and Sharky, two blue parrots regularly showcase their skills doing all sorts of tricks like skateboarding and playing basketball.

Now, a black and white cat called Gacek has captured the hearts of tourists visiting Polish city Szczecin. They’ve swapped visiting historical landmarks for a tour with Gacek.

He has his own Instagram page and a section on Google maps. Unfortunately, tourists constantly feeding him have made him a little, ahem, portly but he’s still adorable.

I don’t think our Jack Russell Ollie will be clocking up thousands of followers anytime soon, though.

He won’t keep still for a quick photo, is only interested in dog biscuits and lives a life dominated by naps. Not much to view there.

One such amazing lady is Stacey Victoria who lives in Huddersfield. She has revealed how she saves £200 a month with clever, waste-free ideas which even include re-purposing empty juice cartons into plant pots. She has cut back each month on items the family could do without and overhauled her shopping and now, she states: “I get such a good feeling from making use of discarded items again.”

There aren’t many upsides to the current money woes of people but taking that sort of practical, pro-active approach is a lesson to us all.

Hidden genius of ordinary people

PIANOS have been popping up in train stations and shopping malls for a while with the world and his wife having a go to prove their musicality – or lack of it.

But the brainwave to build a TV series around this with expert judges secretly watching is sheer genius.

This is the idea behind The Piano, a new Channel 4 reality show filmed in train stations in London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds, with the best amateur pianists invited along to demonstrate their skills.

Helping the cost of living

THE severe hike in the cost of living has made all of us re-think daily household costs and general spending.

It’s a tough time, especially for those already struggling to get by, and heart-breaking to hear of many families and individuals whose lives have changed for the worse.

The only slight chink in the gloom is the way it has made many people more inventive with household cash and getting the most from every penny.

The result is surprisingly uplifting to the point of tears as talented youngsters and oldsters alike play, delighting passing station audiences and thousands more at home. Judges pop star Mika and star pianist Lang Lang both prove knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

Many of the performances reveal amazing stories, like 13 year-old Lucy who became blind from eye cancer and young Daniel who fell in love with music during lockdown and taught himself to play through YouTube videos.

The various styles are fascinating but the passion is shared and reveals a hidden national musical treasure trove.