The Art of Waiting

It seems we’re always waiting for something. Waiting in line, waiting on the phone, waiting in person, waiting in the car … waiting, waiting, waiting! It’s enough to make a perfectly sane person pull out their hair and run around the yard naked! A bathing crystals’ company has made the saying of “take me away”, a well-known mantra for just such maddening moments!

I’ve never been one to enjoy waiting because it seemed like such a waste of time. I could be doing so many other things to make better use of my time. A multi-tasker and time-efficienado, that’s me. So when laptop computers and hand-held mini’s became available to the average “Jane”, I was thrilled and when Smart Phones became available, well it was almost orgasmic! Now, whenever I find myself waiting, I can always check my emails or texts and get out responses that would save being on the phone for 15 minutes to answer one simple question. Of course, this timesaver has taken the human interaction out of communications, but that’s another blog discussion!

Yes, waiting for anything can take you to the brink of madness. How can we learn to wait for anything when our minds and bodies seem like they’re in a constant state of motion – forward or backward – at least, it is movement! The more complicated our lives become, the more resentment we have for just waiting! We know these moments are coming, but we seem to “rage against the dying of the light” whenever we find ourselves having to do so. The past few months, I’m learning a better way to handle these growing maddening moments. Yes, why can’t we just take those moments of waiting, close our eyes, listening to nothing more than our own breathing and beating of our heart. Then envision oneself on a long white beach, bright sunshine warming your body with glistening waves gently lapping over your feet, while enjoying a lovely glass of wine! Now that’s taking waiting for anything to the next level! Yes, I can do this, but it will have to wait because the light has turned green and horns are honking!