There's joy in waiting

Most of us are impatient when it comes to waiting. But there's a real joy to be found in it.

We live in an era of high speed internet which has made impatience a default setting in most of us. We’re used to instant noodles, coffee, messages and even food deliveries where the desperate delivery guy drives at break neck speed to get you the pizza in less than 30 minutes.
We simply aren’t used to waiting.

I grew up without a television or Internet. It was only when I was 14 or so, that ‘colour TVs’ came to India for the first time. The day my father got one home, we had the whole street in Chennai (then called Madras) , at our house, waiting to watch ‘Chitrahaar’ in colour.

Later, we moved to Kerala. To keep in touch with my friends from Chennai I used to write letters by hand. The day my best friend (we’re still friends after 37 years!) received my letter she would write back. We had to wait for 4 or 5 days, to receive a letter. There was joy in the anticipation that something good was coming. I looked forward to her letters eagerly as she looked forward to mine. Sometimes, an odd letter would get lost in the mail, and we would be disappointed. But we would write again.

Both my children are adults and live abroad. It’s been almost a year since I saw my daughter, and more than 7 months since I saw my son. While I do miss them, I know I will see them in some time. I have something to look forward to—the places we will visit, the movies we will watch and the projects we will do together. Rather than being disappointed that we are not together, I find joy in anticipation.

What if we applied this same principle to life? What if we were certain that we are going to receive whatever we desire, at a later date if we just put in the work today? Wouldn’t that make life so much more filled with hope?

There’s a special magic in waiting. It fills us with excitement and hope, with each passing moment bringing us closer to what we desire. Once you conquer the impatience monster, waiting does make life beautiful.

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