Learning to Understand "Waiting Well"

As I sat at the base of the Matterhorn, waiting and watching the clouds as they danced around the tip. The hope was for it to clear and have an amazing view, like I’ve seen in the pictures. But I only had 20mins before the bus I needed to catch was coming, and I couldn’t do anything to move those clouds along.

I’ve been thinking about waiting well. Recently I have binge listened to Heather Day Thompsons books “It’s Not Your Turn” and “I’ll See You Tomorrow”.

A common theme in the first one is the art of “waiting well”. She shares the example of having a flight delay (which stood out to me as I travelled across the globe!). Should we get frustrated that things aren’t going how we thought they would, or be grateful the pilot and crew are making sure everything is actually safe for our flight? It would be way better to have a delay now, then to have an accident that could’ve been avoided later. Taking due diligence.

In life, how do we actually wait well though? I was at Spiez train station the other day. It was meant to be a quick change over to another train, but a delay had occurred along the way somewhere. I had time to run across the road for to take a quick video for Instagram, but then there was waiting, and it wasn’t just me. Everyone who had booked a ticket for this were standing there, and no one knew for how long. 15 or 20mins went by, and it eventually arrived and the journey resumed as per normal.

From these stories I have been seeing that in waiting, 1. Some things we have no control over to change and 2. Some things we might never know how long we will need to wait.

This has been making me ask the question, what will I choose to do in these scenarios?

There are things bigger than trains that most of us are waiting for. It might be waiting for that dream job, to find the perfect life partner, etc. To be longing for the next season instead of embracing the one we are in. When I was a kid I couldn’t wait to be an adult, I couldn’t wait to go as high as I could with my music, I seemed to always be wishing I was further ahead. Which can be a good motivator, but what about the moment, the season we are in?

We can and should be aware of the time, and take appropriate action when we can make a change. When I am running late for the train, I run. When a hail storm is coming, I put my car under cover. I do my due diligence. It might look like learning that new skill, reading more books relevant to the areas I need to grow, going on a date, booking that holiday, stepping out of our comfort zone.

I am coming to the conclusion, that waiting well is more about our mindset than what we are actually doing. Traits I’m wanting to look for and cultivate on this journey of seeking to wait well is a continual willingness to learn, stepping out of my comfort zone to grow, and to just take time to enjoy the moments. 

Life is too short to waste opportunities.