A while ago I was trying to get new tires for my car at Costco. No matter what time of day I came into the store I heard the same story that the wait time was going to be several hours. On one attempt I was the first person in the tire store and was amazingly told again it would be several hours, time I didn't have. After hearing this I said rather sarcastically, "what is the best time to come here?" The tire manager looked me squarely in the eye and said, "the best time is when you have the time to wait."
The question is when do we have the time to wait?
It seems that most of life can be spent waiting, waiting to finish school, waiting for the better job and waiting until things are just right so we can relax and be happy. Waiting is tricky because it keeps us in anticipation for something to happen, usually something better and more desirable. But what happens while we are waiting is we fail to appreciate and notice the present moment.
For me the present moment in the tire center was not my favorite. I had reconciled myself to accepting the wait and decided after some brief shopping I would simply sit it out. I had balanced my checkbook, organized my purse, examined my nails and wished I had a nail file. And then I noticed other people who were waiting and observed they were keeping themselves busy too perhaps to avoid being present with me.
Waiting is a discipline an exercise for our minds because it keeps us stuck and forces us to just be. As soon as I made eye contact one man who obviously had been checking out my cart asked if I was planning on opening the bottle of Absolute vodka I had bought. I realized that I had a weird assortment of items in my cart. Probably leading this man to assume all sorts of things about me. Who was this woman who had vodka, a king sized box of tampons and toilet paper? I started to laugh because it brought back a memory of years ago when I ran into a convenience store to buy similar items, tampons, toilet paper and a chocolate bar. The cashier said, "have fun" as I left.
Now this waiting would be engraved on my memory simply because of the comic twist. Being an extremely moderate drinker I felt a need to defend my vodka purchase. I explained it was my husband's favorite and I was buying it as a treat for him. The man was not shy and asked if the other two items were a treat for me. I said "in a way" and laughed. Immediately after that I was told my car was ready.
As I drove away I realized my time spent waiting was not such a waste after all. I had made a simple connection with another person who just like me had not wanted to wait either. In some strange way that thought made me happy. We are ultimately the same. Despite our differences we spend our day trying to fill the same needs. Hoping things will work to our advantage. We rarely give any thought to how our advantage might be a disadvantage to someone else.
I'm not hoping to wait more on my next errand but I realize that's it's the situations that we can't control that have the greatest potential for to be memorable.
Karen Pesta writes success tips for students K-12 promoting academic and social success http://www.creativeworldconnection.com
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