have you ever thought about how much of our lives we spend waiting? wait for the bus, train, cab. wait for the light to change. wait in traffic. wait in lines everywhere. wait for a table at a restaurant and then wait for your food and the check. wait for other people to arrive at a meet-up point. wait to see the doctor and dentist. wait for your diagnosis of a clean bill of health or life-changing news. wait for the stick to show + or -. wait to give birth. wait for your car while it's being repaired. wait to hear back from a job interview (or 4). wait for your laundry. wait for feedback on a project or report. wait on hold for the cable company. wait for the coffee to brew. wait for commercials to finish to get back to your show. wait to get out of the parking garage. wait for a package to be delivered. wait for the store to sell alcohol at a designated time on sunday.
i could go on and on and on, but the point is - we spend a ridiculous amount of time waiting for things. of course, certain things like giving birth give you a 9 month wait to get ready for the new baby and waiting for your laundry or the coffee isn't a big deal because you can just keep yourself busy with other things in the meantime. we're used to waiting for appointments and in traffic, though those things grate on the nerves.
i've been wondering lately how i can reduce and/or maximize the time i spend waiting. should i take up a hobby to kill the time? or will i just have to wait in line at michael's and then wait in traffic to get home to start said hobby? i usually keep myself entertained waiting at the doctor's office or auto shop by reading or playing games on my phone, but what about the other types of waiting - the ones that take days, weeks, sometimes months and drive you close to crazy? for example - the job search. you interview, then wait. they call for a second interview, you wait for that day to come, interview, then wait. they call for a third interview, you wait for that day, interview, then wait. that process can be excruciating! same thing, though with much more serious implications, as you wait for a diagnosis from your doctor. go to first appointment, find out something is off. get scheduled for tests, wait for date of testing, get tests, wait. receive call with test results, need additional tests and specialist, make those appointments, wait for appointments, go to appointments, wait for results. get results, which hopefully are good, but may find out you need additional appointments, ongoing health checks, etc. waiting to find out how your diagnosis will progress over the course of time is a particularly evil form of waiting and never fully leaves the back of your mind.
so again, i ask - how do you minimize/maximize waiting?? i can do things to temporarily take my mind off of certain things, try a different route to work with - hopefully - less traffic, occupy myself with books, tv, phone calls, tennis, etc. during waiting time, but i want to know how i can clear my mind and not let the waiting for the big things get to me. any suggestions? i'd love to hear them. and yes, a lobotomy is out of the question.
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3 comments:
go do something special for yourself that you have been putting off. A manicure, pedicure, massage, yeah, maybe a massage but make sure to have music that you would like to sing to (even though you won't sing out loud)so your mind will be listening to the music instead of thinking. These things may pass the time and fill your day with pleasure, instead of the agony of the waiting game. If you can do it, make your appointment be the first one in the morning, so you don't have to wait.
I also found that I have been pulling out very old music that I haven't listened to in years. I have been singing at the top of my lungs in the car and it sure feels good and brings back old happy memories
the bad aunt
I wish I had some great advice for you. You would think I was an expert at it by now. But I am so not.
hurry up and wait. while i think there are temporary fixes for dealing with the pain of waiting, i feel that it's an inevitable part of life....frustrating as it it may be.
that being said, i hope your wait time is short.
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