For those of you who know me, you know I hate to wait. Now I can hear you saying, “Everyone has to wait,” and this is very true; but I like to keep moving! I found myself watching the microwave tick down and thought, “Please hurry up”—a microwave that cooks in record time wasn’t going fast enough. Really? Now that’s when I need a gut check on waiting.
Mom used to say, “A watched pot never boils,” and at the time, I knew she was trying to teach me patience. Things take time and usually more time than I want them to.
We have become an instant gratification society, haven’t we? Things are so fast it makes our heads spin, but it has become the new norm. Waiting is a lost art form. We just don’t like to wait in lines, on the phone, in traffic, or in the kitchen when something fabulous is cooking. Probably because we can’t control those minutes, they just must tick down on the clock—slowly.
Now if it’s something I really love doing, time flies. I don’t notice time going slow if I have a friend in the car while we are waiting on a red light. Or waiting on food in a restaurant when we are with friends or family.
I have decided to really focus on waiting graciously, knowing I will fail often, but I am still going to try very hard. Sitting still in a doctor’s office or restaurant until my appointed time has come is something I will consciously try to master without getting antsy.
Was I always like this? Or have I developed this unhealthy skill of impatience as I have aged? Who knows…maybe it was watching the Jetsons cartoon as a child that started it.
Are you a calm person when you wait?