We Wait, That is What We Do
Clips, Concerns and Conundrums from Candace
I am as impatient as the next person. But one day I realized that the rush to get to the end of the story will one day be the end of my life. That gave me pause. I know waiting right now is painful, but it is important and necessary.
We hate the pressure of waiting and yet, waiting is what we do naturally, every day of our lives.
· We wait for an embryo to become a baby so it can live through birth.
· We wait for food to digest and when we have reaped the nutritional benefit of it, we wait until our body is ready to let it go.
· We wait for the sun to come up every morning as we sit in the wee hours with a cup of coffee in our hand.
· We make plans to wed or go on vacation, and then we must wait between our plans and those exciting days to arrive.
· We put brownies in the oven and wait for them to be cooked before we can eat them.
· We wait at red lights, to see movies, or to enter a stadium for a ball game or concert.
· We wait to find out if a loved one is safe as we suffer the unknown potential that they may have met with harm or will not survive an accident.
· We sit by a loved one’s bedside as they die, and we must wait for that last breath.
Even dying takes time. We wait every day for something, or someone, or some event to come or pass. We are experts at waiting. We just don’t know that we are.
Waiting is the note between the “this and that.” It is that precious opportunity to experience our life in a way that we regularly miss as we rush to the end of the story.
And now, we are faced with waiting, as the final few states count the final votes we have cast as an electorate.
Every year that has passed since 2015 and Trumps bid for the Presidency, I didn’t think I could wait for this man to go away and leave me with some peace. Every day it felt like my senses and well-being were assaulted and that no one was paying attention to what was happening. My crazy mind nagged that this assault would never end; that this election day would never come. But here we are. And even though the outcome is still unknown at 12:30 pm on November 5, 2020, this day did arrive. Just as the sun came up every day of my life. The final decision will arrive and then we will be faced with a different kind of waiting.
But tomorrow is sure bet. It’s a sure bet even after we die because it will be there for those who continue to live long past us.
COVID gifted me with an appreciation for my life, for my family. And while that was always present in the background of all my busyness, it has taken front and center in everything I say and do. I don’t want to rush anything anymore, not even the outcome of this election. I don’t want to miss a moment. I don’t want my precious moments to be like that 50-year-old Twinkie some guy found in his basement, all rancid and moldy. I want to eat them now, even as I have moments between now and until this election is definitively decided, because life is sweet and has the great potential to be satisfying, peaceful, successful, and surprising.
Waiting is the pause between the notes, the time stamp that leaves a tattoo on the book of our memories, the beauty of a child sleeping. It is everything.
I leave you with a sweet song and wise words from Mary Ann Winiger, a friend and mentor.
http://www.key-to-you.com/images/Waiting_song.mp3
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Candace Conradi is retired and writes for the satisfaction of putting words to her ruminations. No agenda, just a hope that what she shares has value for others. You can find her books on Amazon under Candace Conradi and Candace George Conradi. Her personal favorite is The Gentle Pine’s Purpose and you can listen to this live book at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMiVPsv7gcI.