Filed under: Life 101
I hate waiting.
I am one of those people who would much rather eat cookie dough than wait the 12-15 minutes for the oven to turn them into cookies. Sometimes I’ll eat an entire bag handful of chocolate chips in lieu of waiting for the cookie dough to get mixed. (In fact, I usually do this.) I hate waiting until the end of a book to find out the ending. I hate waiting for the second or third book of a series to be published. I hate waiting for injuries to heal and I hate waiting for pain killers to kick in and start working. I hate being on hold, even if there is decent music (which, let’s face it, there never is) and the electronic person telling you there are 3 or 8 or 47 people in line ahead of you.
Unfortunately, life is not all about instant gratification. I realize that it shouldn’t be all about instant gratification. I can see the wisdom in waiting a few minutes, a few days, a week….okay, I’ll be honest, I don’t see much point in waiting for more than a week for anything. With things like world-wide next-day delivery and all, I hardly feel that anything should be postponed for more than a week. Ok, perhaps the gestation period for babies needs more than a week…but that’s it.
Here’s the kicker. Right now? I’m waiting. Just, waiting. Waiting for this, waiting for that, waiting for him, waiting for them, waiting for it. Hate.
Hate. Hate. Hate.
I wish I could even break it down into smaller sections…I have an x day wait until A, then x days until B, then x until C, then I’m done waiting! This is how I handle waiting for weekends, or upcoming vacations (to Boston! Squee!), or something. I have exactly 4 days until the weekend! Or, I have three weeks until I go to Boston! That kind of waiting is something I can handle, unless we’re talking about having cookie dough right now or waiting for the cookies to bake, because I just don’t have that kind of patience. Cookie dough is perfectly lovely pre-baking, no oven required.
I have tried my old “stand by’s” to help the current Waiting Game go by faster; internet window shopping, reading blogs, baking (or not baking, see cookie dough), running, cleaning, hanging out with old friends, making new friends…nothing has helped.
What do you do to try and find patience? Really people, I’m wide open to ideas right now.
10 Comments so far
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For me, patience is all about distraction. Get good and caught up in something else, and that makes it easier. Otherwise? I’m the one pacing, biting my nails, etc. Not so good at the waiting. At all.
Comment by Z 2009 September 29 @ 4:57 amOops. Hit the button too soon.
My fav distractions are reading and longs walks with my camera… Also doing something totally different than normal (for me, leaving the city) to break you out of the routine…
Comment by Z 2009 September 29 @ 4:58 amMaybe I’m misreading this, or I’m attaching meaning to it that you did not intend, but in my opinion, it’s (life’s) not really about the end game. As soon as you’re done waiting for one thing, you’re going to be waiting for another. Reframe all of this, and enjoy the journey! And there is nothing wrong with eating the bag of chocolate chips (or the dough).
Comment by Lou 2009 September 29 @ 6:25 amThe only intelligent thing my ex ever said to me was, “Don’t wish your life away” because I too suffer from your dilemma. At times I think back to his advice and realize that he is right. In ten years, I’ll look back on the wasted moments of being anxious about future events instead of just finding a way to enjoy the present. But the present is so infernally boring. Life just seems so much more exciting when you’re talking in “what ifs” and “finally, then’s”.
but good for you, for not suffering in silence. Awareness is key!!
Comment by Em 2009 September 29 @ 11:04 amI eat all the pepperoni out of the little bag when I’m baking a pizza. Sometimes I have to buy more to bake a second one. I eat the chocolate chips too.
Here’s my take on impatience though, in a broader sense. When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to grow up. When I was 16, I couldn’t wait to be 18. When I was 18, I couldn’t wait to be 21. Then 25 (cheaper insurance, you know). I went through life always looking ahead at what was coming, anticipating it. Somewhere in my early 30s something clicked and I realized that I never stopped to savor anything. I was always looking forward, and never enjoying what I was doing at the time. I believe that’s the reason life seems to pass by ever more quickly. It’s the reason I believe I’ve pretty much wasted my life to this point.
That was kinda heavy, wasn’t it? Forget all that.
I ordered a the new 3G iPod from Amazon like a week and a half ago. The damn thing sill isn’t here, and it’s driving me crazy. I want my iPod! I want it NOW! I paid for it, right? It should instantly materialize in my hand because I want it NOW! I sat at my computer and put together a whole bunch of songs and downloaded all the little album covers and everything! I even received the little protective screen covers I ordered separately. They are sad and lonely without an iPod to protect! WANT WANT WANT NOW NOW NOW.
Comment by Sov 2009 September 29 @ 1:39 pmi’m really bad at waiting too, you are so not alone there too. usually i just try and distract myself to forget that i’m waiting, doesn’t always work but doesn’t hurt to try.
Comment by katelin 2009 September 29 @ 5:21 pmWhen you’re in a period of waiting for nothing in particular, I find that unbearable. But I don’t mind waiting for a long time if I know I am headed toward some goal. Like coming to law school was a two-year process for me, and it was long with lots of waiting, but the whole time I knew it was for a reason. And it paid off, I love it here. I think the key is to always be going somewhere, even figuratively speaking. One needs to achieve in life for there to be purpose in
Comment by Sra 2009 September 29 @ 11:07 pmmy mind.
Ugh. I hate waiting for stuff like this. When I knew we wanted to move to Denver and yet I had to wait for other people to do things (like hire us) to make it happen, I thought my head might explode from impatience.
Comment by Jess 2009 September 30 @ 7:52 ami’ve become so so much better at being patient. still i am never ever patient when it comes to stupidity, but instead of waiting for stupidity to become wisdom – in others of course:) – i mostly, as much as possible try to shy away from such people. which is pretty difficult, dah.
anyway, the waiting game, when i have to be patient for one thing or the other i concentrate on the things i can do meanwhile, the things i love to do or the things that have to be done, reading, writing, cleaning, laundry, making jewellery, knitting, crocheting, cooking, baking, ironing, talking, watching tv/movies, dustng, cleaning the litter boxes, lawnmowing well, the list is endless really. my advice is; just do something else meanwhile, concentrate on something else slash rest in other tasks.
Comment by Pia K 2009 September 30 @ 1:28 pmI just try to make the present as awesome as humanly possible so I don’t “need” to wait. This is usually accomplished by reading a book in a hammock or laying by the river.
Comment by Sarakastic 2009 September 30 @ 6:10 pm