Have you ever told your friend you are on your way when, truly, you are yet to set out? If you have ever done so, you are not alone. It is an indication that you are well aware that people don’t like to wait, especially when the reason for your delay was unintended. Indeed, waiting is tough.
I recall an occasion when I was billed to attend a social gathering with my old classmates. I reminisced the old times and I looked forward to the fun. I was ready ahead of time but had to wait for another classmate whom we were to attend together.
For reasons not entirely due to my friend’s fault, minutes turned to hours, with repeated assurances from my friend that he was just a moment away. After a long time of waiting, the excitement I looked forward to waned and I almost lost the interest to go for the get together.
Eventually my friend came and we journeyed to the event. Hard as I tried to enjoy every moment of fun the gathering offered, it was hard for me to forget the anxiety and disappointment that enveloped me while my wait lasted. My friend tried to make a joke of my mood but I doubt if he knew that he spoilt the fun for me, for all it was worth.
This was a social event and the wait lasted only for few hours. A gathering of old schoolmates is of value but have you thought of waiting for things of greater value for an undeterminable waiting time? If you have not waited for things of greater value before, please tarry before you make any comment about anyone who has had to wait.
If you have not waited for a job, husband, wife, child, promotion, breakthrough in business or any other thing of great value, please, be mindful of what you say about those who have had to wait before getting an answer, even if there were things they could have done better. If yours came in record time, you may think you know but you don’t. Waiting is tough.
What if I say my message here is not even about those who have had to wait and those who didn’t have to wait? Neither is it essentially about the relationship between the two. The crux of my message here is what you do with your waiting time, in case you have to wait.
Who are you while you are waiting? Are you still able to keep your identity while you wait or your waiting time gives you an entirely new identity? If your waiting time gives you a new identity, is it an improvement of your old self or an imitation of your current situation? Think.
What do you do with your waiting time? Do you spend your waiting time to invest in your social capital or you develop phobia for interrelationships? Is your waiting time a moment of spiritual connection or disconnection? Some invest their waiting time on other things of great value, if that sounds familiar. Think.
As I was developing a mental picture of the message I want this piece to pass, whether by coincidence or divine design, I ran into this movie on Netflix this last weekend, The Wait. That movie encapsulates every valuable counsel anyone may give on the waiting time. If you are yet to watch The Wait, I encourage you to do so. It was produced by Mrs Yewande Zaccheaus.
If you focus too much on your goal and ignore who you are while you wait, you may lose your identity. If you lose your identity, you may forget your purpose. If you forget your purpose, that is a tragedy. Dr. Myles Munroe said the greatest tragedy in life is not death but a life without a purpose.
Back to my story. As I ruminate over what I now know, I realise that the reason I did not enjoy my get together party was that I mismanaged my waiting time. If I had extracted value from my waiting time, it would have reduced the impact of my disappointment. What do you do with your waiting time? Waiting is tough but please, do not waste your waiting time.
©️Akin Oluwadare Jnr
16 January 2023
