WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? 3

a message from Sandye Linnetz

I have always hated waiting. I’m the quick and impatient type, always moving, doing – in action. I was never very good at waiting. What a waste of my precious, limited time! How unproductive! How boring!

You know what I’m talking about.  Waiting for the train to pass or the light to change… You have place a to go and people to see! Waiting in line at the store… You have far more important things to do! Waiting for your appointment when you got there on time! Being left on hold when you have an important question… or answer… or problem.  Waiting for that repair person to show up or the mail or that phone call can be hell on earth! Some of you might even have issues with waiting for a slow speaker to finish a sentence or for the other person to ‘get the concept’.

And then there are the BIG waits: Did I get the job? Where’s the acceptance letter? What are the test results? Is it a boy or a girl? When will THIS be over?

Whoa. Hold on there.  WAIT a minute! (oops, sorry ‘bout that)  Perhaps we would all benefit from a little ‘waiting coaching’. If we could train ourselves to wait – and wait patiently – maybe we would even (dare I say it?) learn to enjoy waiting.

Ready for a shift? Think of yourself as a student who’s been working hard on long division all period long. And envision waiting as recess time. Remember the thrill of the recess bell? We all loved recess, didn’t we? It’s time to go back to those glorious days and relish the break – take charge of it and make waiting your play time.

Decide how you will use your time; will you use it to BE or as a time to DO? Using your time management skills you could do some strategic planning. Make lists.  Make that phone call or write that email. On a more cerebral level: meditate, pray, really look around  – wherever you are – and appreciate what is.

It’s all about ‘reframing’ what is… reframe the annoying wait so that it becomes an opportunity to…

Make the shift from annoyance to relaxation and get good at waiting.

Thought for the day:  If you are waiting for a change… stop waiting!  Go all Nike on it. Just do it.