Is there anyone who likes waiting? It’s my least favourite activity. It’s not even an activity. It’s passive. Although sometimes I put so much effort into it, it might be active!
Waiting in queues, waiting for tradesmen, waiting for human phone assistance – they’re all irritating! Unfortunately, if we’re waiting, it’s likely there’s not much we can do about it! It means that something is out of our control. No-one waits by choice. Were you told as a child, Wait your turn, Wait to be asked, Wait ‘til I’m ready and Wait ‘til you’re older….? We couldn’t wait to grow up so that we could stop waiting do things!
Waiting is a part of life that never goes away, even when we grow up! When we’re young adults we’re busy cramming in life. When we’re parents of young children we’re busy juggling several lives. Waiting in these years is painful. I remember receiving traffic violations, yelling at children, and cutting short the wash cycle, all because there wasn’t enough time in the day to wait!
As an older woman, I have more time to wait. Gone is the road rage, yanking on the dog’s lead to walk faster and use of elbows to wiggle ahead in a queue. If I need wait, I try to do something else, or just be mindful of what’s around me. I step back if someone looks like they’re in a hurry and let them go first. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not completely calm! I still don’t like waiting but I try to breathe and smile through it.
In fact, in the last year, I think I’ve become a waiting expert. I’ve had to learn the art of patience on a major scale. In my personal and financial life, I’ve had big issues that I have very little power over. In the last month, I’ve had issues with my health that have disrupted my plans and had me sitting in doctors’ surgeries multiple times. There is no other waiting as bad as waiting for a doctor, but worse is when you see them they refer you to another doctor and more waiting! Oh, the frustration!
I’m thinking this year is a bit like hibernation. The world around me is doing its own thing. I’ve had to slow down, breathe deeply, let go, be patient. The waiting game is like winter and I’ve been zen!
‘It’s always darkest before the dawn.’ I’ve been waiting. And I now see that dawn is near.
Carla Simmons Writer 
Wonderful….lots to ponder.
I have also come to realize …we don’t write the script.
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Yes, I am not a patient person either but one of the definite advantages of being old and retired is acquiring the ability to wait patiently. I can drive patiently, wait for doctors, wait to be served. Not always, but I can do it.
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I agree. No one likes to wait! Never is that more apparent than in big cities. Increasingly, we’re forced into this frenetic pace of living that we consciously hate, but can’t do anything to halt. Especially when we have children. That said, it is nice to be able to make a decision to accept the inevitability of waiting and perhaps see the upside in many instances. If it means being able to slow down, take in our surroundings, offer a smile to the person behind us in the checkout queue, let an elderly person cross a busy street to catch a bus before it pulls away from the curb or maybe pull out a book and read instead of stewing in the face of a wait, then that can only be a good thing! Nice blog post Carla!
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I love that you are learning the art of patience, that stuff ‘sucks’ not life and your sharing it all with us.
Thank you, just loving your blogs😃
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