Waiting...

It seems like we wait a lot in this life, which can be very frustrating. We can’t rush waiting and we can’t wait any faster. We can only wait.

We wait for phone calls, wait on hold, wait for decisions, and wait for information.

We wait in traffic, in checkout lines, and in waiting rooms.

We wait for people to come or to go. We wait for them to be responsible and we wait for them to fail. We wait for them to DO something.

We wait for things to happen, for the weather to change, for an opportunity, for time to pass, and for that big moment.

Buddhists believe that waiting and doing are equal and essential parts of living. Maybe the key is how you manage the two to create balance.

"...but if we wait until we're ready we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives.  Let's go.”  ~Lemony Snicket

Sometimes, no matter how much you want for things to happen, all you can do is wait. And usually, waiting is the hardest part.

Patience

pa•tience

• the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain without complaint, loss of temper, or anger
  
  
• an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay
  
  
• quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence

I am willing to be patient. Really I am. Somehow it doesn't always turn out that way. I have the ability to tolerate petty annoyances, pain, delays and bumps in the road. I've always been able to calmly take what comes and move forward. I've got perseverance and diligence covered.  It's just that occasionally I get hung up on the without complaint and loss of temper part. That must be genetic...my red-headed German-Irish roots are showing. 

 

Patience is a wonderful quality to have, but it isn't always easy. I guess that's why it must be practiced.  

“My patience comes in limited allowance, and you used it all.” Anonymous

“Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!” Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Waiting Is Hard

For Hazel Rose Ireland

I've never been good at waiting.  I'm just too impatient.  Right now I've been doing a lot of it.  My mother-in-law has been in the hospital and she probably won't recover.   I comforted her and my sweet husband as best I could. 

At the hospital, everyone is waiting for something.  Some are waiting to be born, others to die.  Patients are waiting for pain meds or for the nurse to answer their call button.  People are waiting for procedures to be done and for the test results.  They are waiting to see loved ones, waiting for a doctor, waiting to be admitted, or waiting to be discharged.  Workers are waiting for their shift to end. 

I took yarn and crocheted to help pass the time.  I read magazines and snacked on pretzels.  I walked the halls and played solitaire on my phone.  I made calls and talked with doctors.  It has been much easier to wait knowing that I was where I was supposed to be.  I was there for her and for my family.  There's a peace with that. 

To every thing there is a season...