The fact that we inhabit time with a past and a future, we end up sticking our neck out, waiting for something, someone, all the time.
Standing in line, waiting to be served. Often to our disappointment and frustration.
I wasn't sure I had much to
say about
waiting in a positive light when really - waiting is a painful
consequence of
someone's bad decisions, is it not? Doesn't help when our fast food
culture of two-in-one shampoo or three-in-one skincare treatments are
making us more and more impatient. Yes. They even managed to stuff
seven years of high school into six nowadays!
Oh Wait. We Forgot.
We forgot how notoriously romantic it can be when you are in the wait.
"I turn on my computer. I wait patiently as it connects. I go online." Do you remember that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie - set precisely in the era of using a 56K modem to get hooked online?
And what happened to the anticipation for a snail mail to arrive? Do
you recall that excitement when the postman handed you with the one
letter you have been waiting for? And does anyone remember the relish
of queuing up for a movie ticket? Anyone does that any more? Anyone still with me so far?
We certainly have more conveniences, not a doubt. I mean, all I need
is a smartphone and I can order my groceries, grab my movie tickets,
check-in my flight, saving me heaps of time queuing in various places for all these
otherwise.
The paradox is...if the fast food culture we are living in represents
time efficiency and instant gratification, why are we constantly feeling
the lack of time?
I stumbled upon this paradoxical thought when I was stuck inside a
plane (with no 3G or Wi-Fi network). The amount of time one spent in "queuing" and "waiting" in airports is indeed - an incredible amount of time. Worsened of course when you have no internet to fiddle with.
We should appreciate the beauty of idle time - use that wisely
to pause and reflect on our priorities and what is the most needed. Waiting - won't appear to be so bad after all.
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