Waiting Sucks and I Reject It
There are some things I think you should grow out of. I think you should become kinder and more compassionate as you get older. I think you should help more, sharing your time and your knowledge. I think you should be the person that enables others to get their start down whatever path they’re trying to take. However, what I’m finally coming to grips with is that I have not grown out of my impatience. Maybe this is a character flaw but honestly I’m too old to care.
I suppose I should have made some sort of progression by this point in life where I don’t get antsy waiting. Things like lines or hold times on calls shouldn’t bother me and yet they do. What I have gotten better at is occupying my time while I’m waiting. This however, is not the same as being patient.
Being patient is being okay with doing nothing while you wait for whatever it is you’re waiting for. I, on the other hand, have gone the exact opposite direction. I now stay more in motion than ever before. I find things to do more now than I did even ten years ago.
I used to wait in parking lots for our kids to get done with practice or class or the birthday party ad infinitum. I think I’ve written about my 3-4 hours of drive and pickup time after work before. What I didn’t share was that the actual time in motion was a mere fraction of that time. When you have fulfilled one shuttle assignment and don’t have to fulfill another one for 30 minutes it doesn’t make much sense to return to home base. So, you sit in parking lots and you wait. Today it might actually kill me.
I’ve managed to convert so many things and tasks and projects onto the thing in my hand masquerading as a cell phone it’s almost laughable. I’m even grocery shopping on it now although I still hate waiting the 5 minutes for them to bring out my groceries. I bank and social and market myself on it constantly. So while it might appear I’m waiting patiently or sitting quietly, I’m really not, which is disingenuous.
So, this Thursday I’m going to own my impatience. I don’t wait well and I never have (you can ask my spouse, on second thought let’s not bring that up). I want things to move along at a regular pace and when they don’t I either give up or dismiss them as unimportant. Because if it can’t fill my needs or show indications of going that direction, why should I waste my time? I realize some may view this as a step backward but I prefer to see it as being willing to be seen as the person I am and there’s honesty in that. Who knows, maybe if I’m open and clear about my impatience that guy will make my ice cream cone faster. One can only hope.
Our insta-society caters to this character challenge I have. Maybe you have been blessed with it too. I say we own it and unashamedly say we’re impatient. If you know someone that needs to ‘fess up to this please share it with them.
You can see more of my posts and thoughts about things I’ve quit (I’ve been at it for about 10 months) at my blog. Just click here. If you want to receive an email on Saturdays you can subscribe to my blog by clicking this. Subscribing is free and you won’t get a bunch of junk email as I never share of sell emails.