By: Shaina Semaña
Good things come to those who wait, they say. But how long does one really have to wait?
One of my fondest memories from my childhood is me and my Dad picking up my Mom from work. It was fun, anything that will get me out of the house when I was a kid, I’ll take it. But what I couldn’t understand then is why we had to leave the house extra early and wait for my Mom for hours. I could be at home watching afternoon cartoons but instead, I’m in the car, waiting.
Waiting is a part of life. It could be you, standing on the queue, waiting for your turn in the cash register. It can go from waiting for a new season of the TV show you’ve been watching or it could be you at work, staring at your laptop waiting for the clock to hit 6 and it’s time to go. You could be waiting for a fateful event that will change your life or a person that you’d think would complete you. Or you could be simply waiting for a text, a call or an Instagram notification.
Waiting is much more common than we think. It happens every day, to everyone, in all aspects of life. You might be waiting for something instant or something that requires a long, long time.
During those afternoons that my Dad and I spent waiting for my Mom—sometimes, it would take her longer than usual—I’d get so makulit and would start talking nonstop, asking so many questions just because I’m starting to get bored. But my Dad would remain calm listening to my nonsense with ease and a smile. He would tap his fingers on the steering wheel to the tune of whatever song is playing on the stereo, sometimes even singing along—off key, which would instantly make me laugh. Back then, it didn’t mean much to me, I was bored and my Dad was just being, well, himself.
But now, looking back as I’m a little bit older, I realize what it was. It was patience and my Dad, he was a really patient man.
Photo from Unsplash.
Waiting takes time, usually, it requires a lot of time. That is why with waiting, comes patience. While the former is innate in all of us, patience isn’t much so. Patience is something you learn and develop in time. As you spend more time waiting and you remain calm and at ease in doing so, that’s when patience is developed. Once you let yourself be patient, that’s when you will truly see the beauty in waiting.
During this community quarantine, for example, as we remain indoors and wait for this to end so we can go back to our routines, learn to adapt patience. Instead of rushing for this to end, take this time to embrace the stillness that your everyday hustle couldn’t bring. Take it with patience and breathe.
Just because you’re at still, doesn’t mean that things are on hold. The good thing about having patience is that you accept this stillness and you know that it’s not an end. It’s knowing that it is okay for things to take time. Having patience in waiting allows you to use the time to prepare for whatever it is that you are looking forward to—this is something that you cannot see if you’re preoccupied with the agony in waiting.
Photo from Unsplash
So, in those afternoons in the past, while I was busy rambling about my classmates or asking why the sky is blue, my Dad was enjoying that moment of stillness. He wasn’t thinking about time being wasted. What mattered was that he spent that time with his daughter while looking forward to seeing my mom after a long, tiring day. In his example, he taught me the value of patience.
Being patient means you welcome waiting with calmness instead of frustration; warmth instead of irritation; hope instead of disappointment. It means you accept that there are things that you can’t control and can only happen when it takes time. It is believing that things fall right into place, in their own time.
There is beauty in waiting that you won’t ever find in things that are rushed. So, the next time you find yourself staring at the ceiling wondering when the love of your life will arrive or you’re stuck in long grocery line, or when you’re simply at home waiting for this quarantine to end, indulge yourself with a little patience and you’ll find yourself looking forward to a brighter tomorrow.
Featured photo courtesy of Anthony Tran, Unsplash