Waiting And Being

I got up early this morning to start a new job assignment. So I had to take a Covid test at 6:00 a.m. I got here 30 minutes early and people were already lining up in their cars to get a test. I got my place in line and about 20 minutes later someone cut in behind me. I’m glad it didn’t start a fight but eventually this guy was 3 inches from my bumper and still in a hurry. It’s pretty clear that none of us like to wait.

They told me it would take about 2 hours to run the test. Of course it’s been close to 3 hours, but I keep reminding myself I’m getting paid to listen to a podcast in my car. Even though I know that’s true, I’m still anxious to begin the testing. I want to see what it’s going to be about and I know when I’m computer testing, that I will want to hurry up and get done. This urgency seems to have always been with me.

I know sometime tomorrow when I start to work, there will be the urge to get in a hurry and try to finish quickly. But just like today where I’m getting paid to go to class, my employer will pay me to take my time and do the work right. I wonder why we’re in a hurry so often and I wonder what we miss in life because we are always running to the next thing.

Running out of time

There seems to be this feeling that we’re running out of time. Now that we have arrived where we were intending to go, we feel we need to be efficient while we are there so we can get on to the next step. We miss the experience of where we are because we’re always looking toward where we are going. In the Tea Shop, my new book, I realized that although the tea shop was the main adventure, I almost didn’t notice all the adventures that happened along the way (especially in the mishaps).

Where BEING happens

I often say that we have to be where we are and who we are, because these represent presence and authenticity. I’m wondering if being most often happens while we’re waiting for something else. Think about it for a second. It’s when you meet people, it’s where you find the interesting things, it’s where you see what you otherwise would have missed. Hopefully we can experience being the most where we are when we are there and while we are waiting.

Right now I’m listening to a podcast and I just took a break to write this article. I’m still getting paid to do that while I wait, so I’m starting to not mind waiting as I grow older and hopefully wiser. The podcast was also about someone’s grandpa and I got to just sit and think about my grandpa’s for a few moments.

Several good things have happend already this moring while I was waiting. The saying says that the waiting is the hardest part – but is it? Maybe it’s only hard because we resent it so much. Maybe if we learnd to be where we are while we’re waiting, we could discover that is where the treasure is. I think if we pay close attention, those things we find during the wait might sometimes be better than the things we were waiting for.

I finally got to go in and start on my computer training. I can’t say it was even close to the highlight of my day. In my mind, I’m saying I can’t wait until tomorrow when I get to see the plant. But another part of me is reminding myself to be where I am and find some treasures on the front porch tonight while I hang out with my love.

Here’s to what you are waiting paitiently for! I hope you get it — but I also hope that you have a lot of adventures and discoveries and awesome moments while you’re waiting. Say hello to your grandpa for me.

Karl