Waiting

Do you think that waiting is hard?

What kind of things do you wait for?

–the weather to change

–dinner to cook

–the morning to come after a sleepless night

–test results

–a new baby’s arrival

–a text or phone call

–traffic

–God

Are we an impatient society wanting all of the above and more to be ready NOW?

According to a survey by the Curious Bank, more than half of Americans hang up the phone after being kept on hold for one minute or less, while 96% will knowingly consume extremely hot food or drinks that burn their mouths, in order to get to the food faster. (Uh oh, I have done this with hot chocolate!)

According to other research, 45% of Americans say technology has made them more impatient today than they were five years ago. Also revealed was that 41% said they wouldn’t wait longer than 15 minutes for an Uber and only 26% are prepared to wait more than 30 minutes for takeout.

I one time read an article about former President Donald Trump and his orange hair. Someone in his family spoke that his impatience contributed to his orange hair. He was often not willing to let the hair product stay on long enough to tone and tame the color.

“Haste makes waste.”

This was a mantra from my mom. She believed rushing or skipping steps would lead to potential disappointment if not disaster. I am not sure I was listening with care to her words. I have been known to rush a recipe, skip chapters while reading a book and jump ahead in my thinking; not to mention feeling antsy while waiting for something.

I recently wrote about simplicity and that in itself has a direct correlation to my desire to have things be quick and easy. While I have great patience on some things, I fail miserably waiting for other things. I disappoint myself sometimes and I am not listening to messages from God while rushing and using my own timetable instead of a more Heavenly timetable.

God sometimes says, “Slow down.”

God sometimes says, “Easy does it.”

God sometimes says, “Wait.”