The Wait is on
Wait for it…Wait for it…And…got it. Wow! That was a long wait. But I finally got what I was waiting for…The next number I have to call.
They say that patience is a virtue. Well, it’s also a pain in the, well you know what. There are times that it is valuable to wait. For example, you are waiting for your tea water to boil. We all know that a watched pot never boils. But seriously…
There are plenty of times when patience does help you physically. You are sitting in your car going 5 mph because the car in front of you is going well under the speed limit. Patience, in this case, may get you to your destination a little late, but the potential hazard of speeding past the car on a one-lane road and encountering another vehicle can do serious damage, not to mention the stress of making that maneuver. Of course, there is the stress you feel of being late to your meeting that might counteract the stress of a driving accident. Be patient. Which outcome is less life-threatening?
I’m known as being a patient person. I try to let people finish what they are saying before I jump in and throw in my ideas. That is unless I have to let them know my thoughts which are needed to be heard at that moment… “Your pants are on fire!”.
I was once told by a colleague at one of my faculty meetings that if I didn’t raise my hand right away as soon as a thought popped into my head, and actually gave other people time to think, they would come up with the same conclusions I had reached and I wouldn’t be considered the gadfly of meetings. That wasn’t easy for me to do, but I tried.
Patience is definitely good when standing in a line or being stuck in traffic. There’s not much you can do, so why push yourself. Just sit back (or stand there) and talk to someone to pass the time. This happens a lot when I’m driving by myself. And it’s great, I don’t get interrupted by other impatient people or the other drivers that I’m talking to that clearly aren’t hearing me.
I’m planning on voting in person during this upcoming election. I’m also planning for a long wait in line. Maybe I’ll get a chance to finish that book on tape that I’ve been listening to. And, if my wife goes with me, I’m sure we will have lots to talk about, planning that trip we can’t go on…yet, not to mention all the house jobs that have to be done.
So my advice is to be patient. It never hurts to slow things down and just wait and give things time to pass. Like this piece of writing.
