Why it pays to wait...

At the brink of technology nowadays, people tend to be impatient. Why? Because we want our questions to be answered by Google right away. When we want to send a message to a loved one who is living in another part of the country or in another country, we can just get out phones, connect to the internet, and voila! make a call or even a video call. When the connection's lagging, we tend to get angry.

Am I right?

To give you an overview, I will try to answer the following questions in this article:

• Are we wasting our energies in waiting?

• Why is there a need to wait?

• Why do we get angry when we wait long?

• But most importantly, is it really important to wait? What good things can I get from waiting?

Are we wasting our energies in waiting?

Yes, but more on No. Waiting is a difficult thing to do. For example, you are in a mall and you are shopping with someone since you cannot decide what will you buy, you tend to go here and there and everywhere...and your companion would somehow go with you, but most often than not, he (or she) will just stay somewhere and wait for you to finish. It's not our time that is wasted, but the other person's. Put yourself in their shoes, would you feel bored and "neglected" in a way? I am not sure what you'd feel, but sometimes waiting can make us feel that we're just wasting our time and energy, instead of using it for something better to do. However, come to think, if your reason is to be with him/her, it's not time fully wasted. Spending time can be equivalent to bonding which can grow any relationship. So next time that you'll be "waiting" for your companion, why not try to participate in the process? You can suggest and make the time worthwhile.

Why is there a need to wait?

If everything comes in handy, will you still value these? Have you ever heard the term" delayed gratification"? It is one's ability to wait until he/she can get what he/she wants, in the hopes of obtaining a more valuable reward than what is instantly available. So, this could only mean that the best is yet to come. Sometimes, because of our impatience, we tend to decide on something so rashly that when we reach the end, we'd have regretted why did we did not wait. Waiting is necessary especially if you are to have a major decision that would eventually take its course and change your whole life. So, it's better to think it over, wait, and think about it again before you finally decide. Or else, you'll just get this Filipino saying: "Nasa huli ang pagsisisi."

Why do we get angry when we wait long?

Waiting is a painful process. Thus, we tend to get angry along the way. Waiting gives you a sort of uncertainty, a feeling of discomfort, that when you do wait, it could actually trigger your brain into becoming mad or angry. I am not saying that it's the waiting that is to blame. All I am saying is that it's how you react to these uncertainties, to these feelings of discomfort, that would determine your character as you wait. It is often said that one's true character is shown in a period of helplessness, discomfort, and sometimes, in a period of waiting. Why do you get angry when you wait? Because your time is wasted? What if what you're waiting for needs to be polished such that when it arrives, it will be the best for you? Yet you still get angry because you waited for a very long time... Why not put all that energy of being angry into something more worthwhile, calm, and peaceful? Try it, you will see the difference.

Is it really important to wait? What good things can I get from waiting?

The answer to the first question is a simple YES. It is important to wait because when you wait, it will make you realize that you do not control everything in the world. It's not in your hands, it's not about you. You may work hard towards your goal, but at the end of the day, there will be others who are also involved in such decisions, and more importantly, there is the One up above who holds the universe and allows things to happen... you just have to wait and see.

What good things can we get from waiting - first, the virtue of patience. Cliche as it may sound but patience is really a virtue, and it's a character worth keeping. Waiting teaches us how to be patient which builds a strong character of resistance. It helps us become more mature individuals. Another thing that waiting can give us to build trust - trusting that whatever comes our way, whatever outcome there is, you are trusting that it is for the good of you and of all. I remember the concept of delayed gratification - of waiting patiently for a much more important reward - something that is for keeps, something that is eternal! Waiting also teaches us how to be contented for what we have at the moment, to be flexible about what we can do in the moment of waiting.

You may be waiting for something right now, you might get tired of it, feel sad or angry, but I tell you, when you seek Him while you wait, you will get the greatest reward that you deserve. So, just wait (patiently) and see...

Thanks for reading!