The dreadful task of…waiting.
Whether you are anticipating the arrival of your food at a restaurant, for the end of the week for your paycheck to be deposited so that you can go to the store, for the bus to come, for your wedding day, for the 9 months to pass to meet your child, for the results back from the test, for your healing process to be over, for the pregnancy strip to have those double lines, and so on, we are always waiting for something or someone.
Even if the waiting isn't monumental when you look at your day, you will find countless small moments of it—watching the microwave timer count down the seconds, peeking at the rising bread dough, tracking the Amazon truck that has your package out for delivery.
These are more moments when we know the end is near, making the anticipation more bearable. We know the oven will beep when it's preheated, or we will get a notification when the package arrives. This type of waiting is where we simply need time to pass, as we know always will.
But what about those big moments that are not calculated by time? They can come whenever they please, so unexpectedly. We have no control over when they come, but we control what we do in the meantime.
So, what do we do while we are waiting? Almost like our bodies and minds are on default when we are expecting something, we tend to constantly think about what we are waiting on. Frozen in time, watching the minutes tick by. We await the next day, hoping for the time to fly by until we receive what we are waiting for. Wishing for things to speed up. But then we forget about the moment we are presently in.
Let’s learn to wait well. Fill our time with purpose and be okay with the duration of the fulfillment of our waiting. Ask yourself what you have been putting off and go do it! Waiting creates a perfect opportunity for you to learn and grow.
Busy yourself by starting that home project. Call your friend to meet up for coffee. Focus on the things and people right in front of you, then you will forget about that pounding anticipation.
Welcome the discipline of patience and eliminate the hurriness. There is an old saying that seems to ring true, “good things come to those who wait.”
Before you know it, what you need will plop itself in your lap! It might not have been exactly what you were waiting for, or maybe it is. But either way, if you choose to be intentional while you wait you will have stronger relationships, finished projects, peace, new perspectives, a blossomed character and joy if you do not waste your time sitting there.
Let the waiting deliver a fuller and richer life!
We can help you in your waiting, whatever it may be. If you need a distraction or assistance in filling your time with intentional tasks, we would love to be there for you!
Come visit us on the Bus and we can do this together. You are not alone in this world.