Waiting

Today I am compelled to write about waiting. How much time do we spend consciously waiting for things.We wait in line,for spring to come,for Christmas,for a baby to be born,the clothes to dry,the kettle to boil,a toilet to flush,our workday to be over....the possibilities are endless. It has occurred to me and probably many other people that our lives are one giant waiting game. And with waiting comes its evil sister ....impatience. It has been said that patience is a virtue.As a naturally impatient person I am offering some ideas on how to combat impatience. You see , impatience leads to anger and frustration and in turn leads to sometimes disastrous events to happen. Think of the impatient person caught in a traffic jam, they start thinking about all the things they must do or accomplish that day,forgetting that hundreds of others have things to do as well...they start to get frustrated and aggressive honking their horn, jerking their way through traffic ,weaving their way around other cars...thinking that their artful and practised manoevers are gaining them valuable headway. Meanwhile unbeknowst to them they have caused a deadly accident to happen behind them. I myself abhor wasting time and so I have found ways to deal with waiting and impatience. First of all , I always keep a puzzle or book handy in case I have a longer wait than expected ie. doctor's or dentist appts. I try to grocery shop when I know it isn't going to be as busy. I take alternate routes in the city to avoid traffic.Audio books are a great invention for long car rides..it is amazing how fast the time goes when you are listening to a story not waiting for a destination. ...Waiting for a washroom however is a different matter.Why can't they have washrooms available right as soon as you step off an airplane? No they make you wait until you have passed through customs before there is one to be had. Last year I almost had the most embarrassing incident of crapping my pants at the San Jose airport in Costa Rica. I almost fainted from the pains ripping through my stomach! I look back now and laugh but then I was in complete agony after having to wait an hour and a half in the customs line.Bodily functions wait for no one! ....In saying all this I think the number one way a person can combat wating is to live in the moment,not to project in the future. People must think about the future but sometimes they do that too much and miss the NOW.So the next time you are consciously waitng for something do something to keep your mind occupied to make that time pass by productively.