Waiting is an ART.
It is sometimes painful, frustrating, enraging and not fun. The dictionary defines waiting as; staying in a place until an expected event happens
Modern life has completely embraced the fast paced life that requires little waiting if any. Although It sometimes simplifies our life and allows us to do a lot more in a shorter time than we did before, the constant chaotic lifestyle, loss of temper resulting in rage at fast pace has resulted in problems that we are now struggling to deal with including mental illnesses, Stress and anxiety.
The waiting room’s magazine selection has got larger and more varied to accommodate the impatient mind that struggles with waiting. The trains are littered with the ‘metro’ newspaper in attempt to occupy the waiting mind. But of all waitings, the one most likely to resonate with me is the waiting for a baby. This in my opinion is a different kind of waiting; an anxious waiting that can be overwhelming. In her book ‘Boggs 2010’ built suspense around this kind of waiting as she explored the different options available to the ‘childless’ woman. It made me wonder if the story would ever result in a real baby……….. Great book!.
Having crossed that bridge myself, I now find myself waiting again. This time for a ‘bad house’ to become beautiful. This is in no way equal measure or comparison to waiting for a baby. They are two experiences of waiting that I have experienced. Different but painful in their own different ways.
I have put in the time, the money, a lot of effort and thought has gone into it and still not ‘the beautiful’ house I envisaged. Last week, I was waiting for the handy man to finish putting up the plaster boards on the bathroom wall. I have long wanted to do it myself to reduce the waiting …….probably a bad idea as I am not patient enough to measure and cut the required corners…..so I have hesitated. However, sitting on my brown dirty leather sofa, my feet frozen from long exposure on the cold floor , I am almost convinced I should give it a go! After all, I did the plastering, when I couldn’t wait any longer!, didn’t I ? Im sure with a bit of patience I can get my pencil out and tape measure and give it a good hour………. I hate waiting!, a sensible thought crosses my mind …..
”Let’s sleep on it and see how it feels in the morning”.
It would be great to have those plasterboards up before the shower cubicles are delivered in two days. Hhhmmnn.
This week, I am waiting for the hot water tanks, they are expensive, necessary and skilful to install. I will have to wait for the plumber to become available to install once they arrive……aarrgghhh. Then there’s next week waiting for the walls to dry from the recent downpour that has left my walls leaking……then the external wall needs painting when its dry and hopefully sunny, the garden too, then more waiting on the rubbish to be collected before I can start the floors. So much waiting.
In all this waiting around, I have wondered if there is any good to be found in the waiting, or Is it all a waste of time ?, to be dreaded ?.
Upon exploring my own experience of waiting, I found an interesting concept:
pro-active verses passive waiting: The definition indicates that waiting is a state of ‘repose’ until something expected happens, often followed by till, or until; to not do something until something else happens; a state of expectation or hope that something will happen. Interestingly, the word ‘repose’ means a state of rest, sleep, or tranquillity and is synonyms with relaxation, restfulness and stillness. This is the state that is expecting in waiting which is completely contrary to what most of us feel while waiting.
In conclusion, although I am stopped, I am actively expecting and hoping that something else will happen. Although my natural response to waiting is anxiety and frustration, I am learning to adopt a state of repose. In this restful state, I can hope that all the things that need to happen will happen in the end and I will be able to move on. So I take a deep breath in and look ahead and determine to enjoy the time in waiting doing things I love to do. Latest, I am exploring my new hood with my daughter and its been amazing!
Are you a good waiter or a bad one ?, How do you deal with your waiting ?
Please share with us below.
Thank you, till next time, wait restfully.
Jambie,