But... What Are You Doing While You Wait?

“If you keep waiting for the right time, it may never happen. Sometimes you have to make the most of the time you have.”

― Priya Ardis

                                

             

People wait

All week for Friday

All year for summer

All life for happiness

…

We wait… We build for ourselves expectations, goals, start and ending points, that in our heads (once we’ve hit those targets) signify a moment when an accomplishment should happen; the opportunity of a great start… a positive start.

We all have heard of the saying, “Thank God it’s Friday,” as if Friday is the real beginning of our week. Most of us look forward to that day, mainly because it is the end of the “regular” work week, it is the end of the school week, and it usually implies the moment you can relax, unwind and put your feet up. Friday is the prelude to freedom, Friday is the sunrise to our weekend, and Friday is the source of pleasure to come on Saturday and Sunday. Well, what about Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday? What about all the accomplishments, strides and failures we deal with and face on those days? What about the opportunity and satisfaction of learning any day? What about the open-mindedness of the unknown and what it will teach us? Why do we want to set ourselves up by waiting on a specific day (or moment) to bring us joy, while any moment should be waited on for its unpredictability, for its potential?

While we don’t always see it, when it seems like nothing is happening, that’s when everything is happening behind the scenes.

It is so clear to me that I am one of those people that sets a goal for myself and it is never worked on the same day I issue myself the challenge. There has to always be a perfect starting point (i.e. “I need to lose weight and I just figured out the right way,” and “I’ll start Monday,” etc.). Everything I do and set myself up to do is so rarely done “on the fly”, or with any measure of spontaneity… Everything is calculated. And here goes the missed opportunities. While I wait for the perfect timing, what do I accomplish? What am I doing while I wait? And what if the momentum I’m trying to build never reaches the peak I need for the perfect send off? What if Friday is the beginning of a stormy weekend? What if global warning plays a trick on us during the summer? What if happiness doesn’t recognize itself? What do you do? Do you keep on waiting? Maybe next Friday, next summer? Maybe another expectation about what will make us happy?

There is one thing people in our generation hate to do, and that is to wait. And why should we? We can Google questions or summon Siri for an immediate answer. We can order anything online rather than making the trip to the retail store. We can purchase all of our heart’s desires even though we actually don’t have the cash in the bank…Why wait? What is the advantage of waiting? But we gladly do so when it comes to actions that require commitment, effort, work and an outcome that is not always successful. We have to measure our capabilities and make efforts for achieving the best possible, rather than boasting for writing our own destiny! A fighter has to get rid of his arrogance, anger, vengeance, hatred, and the “know-it- all,” “big boss” attitude, before landing his first punch on the face of his opponent…

My answer is that I need to not wait! I need to look for the potential with preparation to take any of them, seize the right moments with patience. I need to accept opportunities that come my way and be prepared to grab them with a combination of patient acceptance, and prepared action and not let them pass me by (due to preconceived ideas or a possibility of better opportunities). I do recognize that there is a thin line between “making things happen” and fate (waiting for things to happen). What I know for sure is that I have the ability to think, to take action and responsibility towards working on achieving whatever agenda I have set for myself and setting the “right” things in motion for when the opportunity presents itself.

What bout you? Do you choose to wait or you make things happen? And if you wait... What are you doing while you wait?

RosieSandz