Life’s in the Waiting – It’s What Life’s All About

You’re on a train on a 30-minute journey with stops every five minutes or so. It’s like any other day...

No one talks or engages with each other unless they’re with a partner. Some pass the time listening to their iPods, others read; some gaze out the windows; still others talk on the mobile phones or engage in SMS chat.

It’s a mobile waiting room and the destination is always tantalisingly distant, unless of course someone’s taking the trip for pleasure--though that’s not a common occurrence.

A key feature of life is waiting. We get this message as we go from one juncture to the next; we wait each time. There’s no sense in getting impatient. We can’t avoid it. We wait for a short time and then we arrive at where we’re going or achieve what we set out to; only a short time later, we wait again, and yes, then we get to where we’re going or achieve, again. It’s a never-ending cycle.

It seems to me we must understand that life’s basically configured this way and we’re best arranged to engage with time patiently. Life would be torture otherwise.

Our outlook and disposition on life is so incredibly important. If we rush through life we get a very cheap journey. If we’re constantly hurrying to the next thing we miss the moment we’re in, disregarding the drudgery. Drudgery is to be enjoyed too.

So, life’s in the waiting. If we can get excited about the times we have to wait it can make all the difference. Look at it this way: at least the pressure of the moment is off during times of waiting; it can become a time of reflection.

We all have so much meaningful experience to reflect upon and draw meaning for the future from.

Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.