Sometimes waiting is not fun. It can be nerve-wracking, frustrating, exhausting. But I have to believe that there’s something to be gained when I have to wait. After my 2800 mile trek across the country, I really want to move and settle into my new abode. But, I can’t move in without my “stuff” which seems to be held up yet another day. My stuff left California two days before I did, but in a big semi-truck that no doubt picked up a lot of other people’s stuff along the way and has to deliver their stuff to them before they can deliver mine. I had been hoping it would come this past weekend, but they called me and said it would be here on Monday. This evening the driver called to tell me it wasn’t going to get here until Tuesday morning. I was bummed and texted my sister Ruth in my dismay. Ruth, ever the glass-half-full optimist remarked, “Hmmm, let’s find the silver lining.” I had to smile at that.
So, I have to wait one more day. I have another day with which I can do something, at the moment I know not what. And, that’s alright. If there’s one thing I’ve learned through the challenges of the last months it’s been that I can choose what I’m going to do with what I’m given, with whatever is handed to me, whether it’s “good” or “bad.” Learning that my “stuff” was going to be delayed another day and my subsequent reaction to the news reminded me how much room for improvement I still have in the patience department. I have had more opportunities than one could wish for to practice, so you would think I’d be better at it.
I have the opportunity to sit with the question, “what will you do with this day?” I could sit around and fret about how I will have “lost” a day, or I can turn it around and recognize that I have gained one. At this particular moment, I have no idea what I will do with the day that I’ve been given, but I hope to make the best of it. It’s another opportunity to turn an idea around–I might not be able to start unpacking things and getting settled in my house. So what can I do? I won’t be able to sleep in my own bed in my own house tomorrow, so what will I be able to do? I can choose to be cranky about the situation or I can be grateful for the generosity of my sister Sandy and her husband to allow me and my dog to stay at their house until I can get situated in mine.
I am grateful for being able to choose. So I choose gratitude over grumpiness and to exercise the muscle of patient waiting rather than thrashing around in frustration and irritation because things aren’t working out according to my wishes. In the scheme of things this delay won’t matter one bit; a week from now I won’t be thinking about it, a month from now it’ll be a vague recollection. So I choose to remain calm and do something different with my energy and time tomorrow. “Let’s find the silver lining,” my sister suggested. Good idea. Tomorrow I’ll start with that.
