WAITING CAN BE GOOD

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Our fast pace world has conditioned us to receive gratification immediately, like when we place an order for food and it is placed in a bag on a counter for us to take home moments after the order has been placed. We have call waiting so that if someone is already engaged in a conversation with someone else, that person can stop his/her conversation and tend to us when our signal interrupts the call in progress.

In the course of a day, there are dials and buttons we can push in our homes, places of work, and in our automobiles that instantly produce what we need, or that can save us time. Yet, there are things for which we must wait, like the times we need an answer to a problem with which we are faced, and when we must wait for ideas as we are in the process of creating something.

It can be frustrating at these times and one might become worried when the idea doesn’t come right away, or the solution is not apparent. Sticking with something and confronting a problem has its place, however, it can be good to just wait.

I heard a speaker at a conference a few days ago talk about how daydreaming has been an ingredient in his success. This apparent waste of time in which a person is physically still, in quiet, watching thoughts go by can be valuable. In a busy day programmed to noise, action, and results so many of us have lost touch with this time of personal inner nurturance. A good night’s sleep may also produce a needed answer or idea, as well as, prayer, meditation, and a long walk in fresh air.

Not everything can be or should be solved in the moment. A wait can produce a gem.

Dr. Ethel Drayton-Craig