Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about waiting.

THE PROMPT: "What are your views on waiting for things? Are you patient or do you stress about it? What sort of things do you do to pass the time while waiting? Talk about, was it worth the wait, or all just a bunch of wasted time? (You don't have to mention me in your entry.)"

What's up y'all? Brother Nature 's here with his prompt, so I'll bang out my entry while I'm killin' time waiting to go to work.

When I was younger, I definitely lacked patience. No matter what; you name it. Everything was "bigger, better, faster, more", and that's not just the name of a 4 Non Blondes album (whatever happened to them anyway?). I couldn't wait for what was next in anything.

Now, I'm a little older, and perhaps a bit wiser. I recognize the value in waiting for things. Like in football, for instance. Being a good running back isn't just about being stronger and faster. It's about being smart enough to wait for a play to develop...trusting your blockers to open things up for you, and waiting for the right opportunity to let your athleticism take over. Or in music...maybe you'd like your favorite artists to come out with new music at a quicker pace. But in waiting, you realize that they're tweaking their art so that the final product is the best set of music they can possibly produce. And in life, sometimes waiting and having patience allows you time to better plan things, gain perspective you might not have had if you'd rushed into a decision, and lets your hopes and dreams grow, so that when the time is right, you can fully appreciate them even more.

There's truth to the old saying, "Good things come to those who wait." I've learned that having patience is a lot better than to stress out over the outcome. Everything happens for a reason, all in due time, yadda yadda yadda. I can spit at you all sorts of mad cliches about the topic, but they're all pretty much true. Except the one about the early bird, cuz we all know he still gets the worm. But the late bird gets the warm spot in the nest, fo' sho'.

One last thought...it's not about what you do to pass the time. Some read, some sleep, some eat (too much). I guess it depends on what you're waiting for. If I'm going to the doctor, I like to have a newspaper. When I'm killing time before work, I'm probably looking up useless knowledge on the internet. When I'm waiting for my shift to end at work, I try to look busy...and sometimes I manage to accomplish things along the way. But the key thing is managing expectations. I like to live by the saying, "He who expects little is seldom disappointed." I try not to get my hopes up. And I try not to think the worst (which in some scenarios is a very hard thing to do). I'd rather be pleasantly surprised rather than largely disappointed. And that's the difference you achieve when something is worth the wait.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

Bet you couldn't wait for me to shut up and get to this part!

VITAL STATS:

Have to share my boy G-Stamm's Facebook status here, because it's pretty fitting about the consequences of waiting. G-Stamm: "And the award for Brilliant Parent of the Month goes to: The lady this morning who showed up 10 minutes after we opened, and 20 minutes before her order was due, demanding to know why wasn't done yet. Cause, ya know, complex computers and machines only take 5 seconds to boot up. Maybe you shouldn't wait until the morning your kid's project is due, to start working on it? Looks like someone really needed to get a watch for Mother's Day."

Boycott corporate pizza. (See yesterday for details.)

Ok folks, time to wrap this up for a day. I'll play some catch-up and grab a snack before torturing myself for the next eight hours. And tomorrow I'll do it all again. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!