Have you ever expected something to happen at a specific time, but had to wait longer than you anticipated? Have you ever planned an event or participated in planning an event only to have it postponed at the last minute? Have you received an invite to a party or wedding, but due to unforeseen circumstances the host informed you on the day of that the scheduled celebration would in fact not be happening at the appointed time? Instead, you should expect a delay of 30 minutes or maybe an hour.
Maybe you were in traffic when an accident or train caused you to have to wait. Or just maybe you were in the checkout line when someone’s card declined or the cashier had trouble with the register. Even if the time you had to wait was shorter than I mentioned, I’m sure at least one of those situations is familiar to you. Now, if more than one of those incidents have occurred think back to the most current one. Think back to your state of mind. Think back to how you felt about having to wait, particularly, as time went on.
Did you get angry or upset? Did you seek an alternative? Or did you decide to find something to occupy your time to keep your mind off the delay? Now, if you were upset or angry, did that help the situation in any way? Or did it make the situation of waiting worse? Yes, it’s normal and natural to feel disappointed when things don’t go the we way plan. Still, as much as possible, it’s better for us if we can control the feelings of frustration because first it doesn’t change the delay. And secondly, we can’t get back the time we spend being angry or upset.
You know, sometimes delays are necessary and sometimes delays show us how much we need to work on our mindset and attitude. Yes, we may not like delays and of course, delays are not are ideal. Still, delays are part of life. We will have delays, so like it or not, accept it or not, delays will happen. And since we know delays will happen, it’s in our best interest to handle them in a way that maximizes our time in a positive way. Because if we spend time concentrating on negativity while we wait, it only takes away the joy and productivity that we could be having in that moment. And it keeps us focused on what we don’t yet have, or the person who has yet to get it together.
That right now mindset and hurry up attitude can grow and fester in a negative way, which is simply toxic. Waiting challenges our character. It challenges our ability to realize that whenever we are experiencing delays, it doesn’t mean that what we’re waiting for is not going to happen. Delays simply mean that for some reason what we expected or anticipated would happen is not currently happening as scheduled or planned. However, it is still going to happen. It’s important to understand that if we give into negative feelings regarding having delays happen in life, those feelings can cause us to lose self-control and sometime make being delayed seem worse than it is.
Plans are a blueprint, deadlines are an ideal execution date, and life is full of events that are not set-in unmovable stone. So, just because we plan, it doesn’t mean we should be so rigid in our mindset to think and feel that things won’t happen that cause us to have to shift our plans. Just because we set or have a deadline doesn’t mean that every detail will fall into place in time to meet the intended deadline, and just because we want life to be smooth sailing doesn’t mean it will be. And as an adult we should know and understand how quickly life can cause events and things we want to happen not to happen when we want them to.
In fact, we should we should expect it and have a mindset and attitude that allows us to handle delays with gratitude, not with outbursts, anxiety, or depression. After all, sometimes delays can benefit us. I’m sure if you think back to a time that you experienced a delay, after it was over something positive came from the delay itself or immediately after it. I can personally recall experiencing a delay in traffic and thinking to myself, now I’m going to be late, only to find after I got to where I was going, I was right on time.
Another time, I thought the delay was preventing me again from arriving on time; but, in fact, the delay prevented me from being in an accident. Whatever the case or situation may be, it’s your mindset and attitude that makes the difference. Therefore, the next time you experience a delay, I encourage you to intentionally recognize the delay is simply pausing your expectation momentarily. So, in that moment, you now have the time and opportunity to use the delay to make something else phenomenal happen.
~While we may not prefer to wait for something or on someone, waiting is part of life and in times of waiting it’s your mindset and attitude that can make waiting miserable or not, choose to wait with the understanding that delayed gratification makes the actualization of completion more memorable and more meaningful.~ Coach Sam
~Exalted Royalty~ A C. E. SAM COMPANY
