In this “serving-a-second” world (thanks to the fast food industry) we have become impatient with anything that takes longer to accomplish than we want to wait. I have that inclination when waiting for hamburgers to cook, sometimes to my detriment. Someone I know refuses to wait in a doctor’s office more than a certain number of minutes for the doctor to appear, regardless of how serious a need has occasioned her appointment or the emergency for someone else that has caused the delay.
Sometimes patience is the only way to get through a longer trial, like an illness or a period of waiting for someone to come home from a military deployment far away. If we do not cultivate a willingness to wait in more or less serious situations in our life, our health can be compromised as a result. There are so many methods known to us these days of practicing peace and calm in times of trouble. It’s as simple as watching your breath…but those methods often fail in times of real stress.
Our country is in a difficult moment as we wait for vote count for national elections to be concluded. (It’s already way beyond what we’re used to. Isn’t there a machine that can tally all those votes???) Nail-biting aside, is there anything we can do to speed things along? The answer is only – of course – “Be patient.” Who knows? We may have enough time to breathe or pray ourselves into acceptance of the results by the time the wait is over.