Ruckus Scooter Love

Ruckus Scooter Love
Scootin' For A Slower Pace of Life...

Monday, January 21, 2013

Hurry Up and Wait!


I grew up an Army brat in the '60s and then went into the Navy myself in the '80s. If any of you have lived that lifestyle you know that it is full of acronyms and "sayings".

One of them is "hurry up and wait".

That's because in the military there is a LOT of waiting around. In basic training or boot camp, you are always waiting. Waiting for orders to do whatever is next, waiting in lines at the PX, commissary, or chow hall. Waiting to deploy. Waiting to come home. Waiting for mail to arrive (in the olden days!). Waiting in line for something all the time.

And so it became a pretty good lesson for life after the military too. Especially if you go on to work in government jobs! LOL

Waiting can be a bitch. Waiting can be a blessing. Waiting can also be a teacher.

Waiting for the impatient person is a trial by fire.

If you have to wait too long and too much it can be maddening.

Think back to times you waited, and waited, and waited. Good times, bad times. Times of adjustment, times of transition, times of loss. Waiting is part of them all.

Now I have been waiting for 4 years for a decent job. A real job. A job with reliable wages, security, a future. Lay-offs, unemployment, contract work, no work, all woven in among this waiting for a job where I can feel again like I am a part of the world around me.

In this respect I've gotten really good (somewhat) at waiting.

Now I am waiting to hear back on a job that I interviewed for almost a month ago. The phone could ring at any moment and the waiting would be over! My whole life would change in just an instant!

As a kid, remember waiting for the tooth fairy, Easter bunny, or Santa Claus? Now that waiting was fun and exciting and was a good childhood preparation for adult life, wasn't it?

Even long past really believing in these things I still got caught up in the "waiting high" that preceded their "arrival"! No, Mom, I did not REALLY still believe in Santa at age 10!

Someone once said that baseball is a game that is "all about waiting". If you think about it, it's true. Waiting for the pitch, the strike out, the base run, the home run. If you're actually in the ball park you're waiting for the pop or hotdog or beer vendor to wander your way.

Damn, I love baseball! I must admit I love the waiting part, the anticipation of what little thing could change the whole outcome. It's addictive!

Waiting teaches patience, but it also teaches the lesson of open mindedness to the outcome. It might not be what you expected, but it might lead to more than what you could have ever imagined.

Waiting permeates our life, but it does not have to stiffle our life in a negative way.

It can open us up to new possibilities, teach us the virtue of patience, and guide us to see that things usually work out ok if we choose to see the positive side of outcomes that we might never have expected.

Right now I am waiting for spring with every fiber of my being.

It will come, it will be glorious, it will bring joy and deep peace to my soul as it always does.

But I have to do the waiting to get to the good stuff, doncha know?

Waiting is a necessary part of life and a launching point for creative change.

In the waiting comes the transformaton to new life.



*Update: I got the job!

7 comments:

  1. Wow...deep thoughts. I understand what your going through, well I am not unemployed...I am definatenly underemployed. However the truth is that I was able to persue a small self-employed business in my "free time." It's not going to make me rich but it does supplement my good wages for being "underemployed." Recently a job opening came up where I could make more money, have a challenge, "do more with my life." Would it make me happy? Would it make my life better? I'm still deciding if I want to apply for it...or is the wait better? There is more important things than a job. I am thinking that waiting might be the best course of action for me at this time in my life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a sifting and a prioritizing, isn't it?

      I am more interested in "more time" than "more money" at this phase of my life.

      If I get this job it would be 40 hrs a week, 5 days. I have worked a 4 day week since 1996, when I was employed.

      So I hope to eventually go to a 4 day week if I get it and get trained.

      Got to have time to scoot, golf, and hang out with my dogs...and just live!

      I hear ya!

      Delete
  2. Deb - your patience will pay off. Waiting & learning to wait s the hardest thing to learn to do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's just a part of life, isn't it?

      In our "instant gratification" society I think waiting has almost become a lost art.

      Delete
  3. Well said Deb.

    Waiting is always hard business especially in this go, go go society we live in now.

    I try to be patient, but it is hard. Come on Spring........

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ugh you have been spammed!!!! I hate spammers. I feel the magic spamming wand coming out of my pocket.

    You are right Deb patience is a lost art and I find it tiring that people don't understand the virtue of it anymore. We are becoming very disconnected as a society and it is disconcerting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete