Week 1, Day 5: Antici…pation

““Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best…” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.””

That word you’re after, Pooh Bear, is “anticipation.” It’s a lovely and mysterious feeling that often eludes us in an instant-print, overnight delivery, one-hour eyeglasses and buy-today-pay-later kind of world. But in this season, we try to remember that it’s a spiritual experience, this waiting for something good to land on our senses.

It’s the reason we enjoy the whole holiday season a lot more than we enjoy the day itself.

It’s the thing that keeps us moving through the heinous traffic, dreadful lines, and frenzied schedules.

It’s the simple pleasure of smelling your roast cook in the crock pot all day long.

It’s that song Carly Simon wrote about her first date with Cat Stevens, later made famous by a ketchup commercial. (Sex, French fries, rock n roll…draw your own connections.)

It’s the week before vacation, or the last semester of senior year, that giddy-on-the-edge-of-your-seat feeling that will catapult you out the door in seconds.

It’s the first cool breeze that blows across the desert on an October morning; the first errant snow flake on Christmas Eve; the first breath of spring after a hard winter freeze.

It’s the UPS guy knocking on your door, with a package you did not order.

It’s why Barney Stinson says “legend–wait for it–dary!”…Because the “wait for it” is way better than whatever he’s about to tell you.

It’s the wonder you vaguely recall from childhood, sitting before that beautifully wrapped gift–the one with your name on it…

It’s why those few minutes of the morning when you can hear and smell the coffee perking are almost—almost—as divine as the first actual sip.

It’s a wonder, it’s a miracle, and it’s coming for us. Just enjoy the wait.