Waiting Isn’t a Waste

How well do you wait for things? Today, let’s talk about what happens when we are forced to wait for something.

These days, everywhere you look people are in a hurry. Timesaving devices are cropping up as fast as weeds in an empty lot, because, as we all know by now, “time is money,” and we all seem to be in a mad rush to either save it or spend it.

But what happens when you are forced to wait for something? For example, you have a 4:00 dental appointment, but you don’t get in to see the dentist until 4:45. Perhaps, you are on the end of a line that is ten people long at the supermarket, or a couple of hundred people long at the movie, waiting for your turn. Or, and here is a growing problem in major cities around the world, you are stuck in traffic – morning and evening, and all day long.

Now, there are two ways to look at waiting. You can spend the time fuming, working yourself into a tizzy about all the valuable time you’re being forced to waste, raising your blood pressure and your stress level as you sit or stand there. Or, you can regard waiting as a gift of time. What can you do with this gift? Here are just a few suggestions.

Use it to develop possible solutions to personal problems. Do mental gymnastics – commit something to memory or see how long a list of things you can remember. Get creative. Make up life histories for the people around you. Keep a journal. Carry a book with you for doctor or dentist appointments, one that you find difficult to read for more than a short period at a time. Crossword or other word or number puzzles are great for filling time and exercising the brain. Set goals for the rest of the day or week. Or better yet, think of something unexpected you could do to bring a smile to the people you love.

We each receive 86,400 seconds for each day. We don’t get to bank them. What we don’t spend effectively disappears at midnight. How can you creatively use the time you spend waiting? Here’s another suggestion: Use it to create a better life.