Opinion: Life is a waiting game, but sometimes the wait pays off
By Stephany Harrington, Columnist
Sometimes there is nothing more torturous than waiting for time to pass. Wishing, waiting, and constantly anticipating. It all becomes so exhausting because we can’t do anything to make time fly by faster. We just wait for the seconds, minutes, and hours to pass, hoping that somehow the hands on the clock will spin at dizzying speeds until they finally arrive at the time that we so impatiently await. It especially hurts when you can’t even constructively fill the time. When your homework has been completed all you’ve caught up on all your favorite television shows, the boredom finally hits you. You’re itching for the clock to reach that hour, on edge because it won’t come fast enough. It’s such a shame too, because of our current environment. We have so many resources at our disposal; we can catch up on the news, spend hours on social networking sites, and yet still be bored because we are so accustomed to instant gratification. Although we have these many opportunities and outlets to pass the time, sometimes they are just not enough. Instead, staring at the ceiling becomes the newest activity, carefully counting all the dots on the ceiling tiles. Listening to music just to pass the time, closing our eyes hoping to drift off into sleep because then we won’t be so restless.
It’s not enough that we have to suffer so harshly through all the waiting, but when that event that we’ve been waiting so long for finally rolls around, it seems to last like two seconds. Yes, they say that time flies while having fun, but that of course is so inconvenient because those are the times that we actually want the clock to stop ticking so we can have unlimited seconds, minutes, and hours to enjoy what we are experiencing. And when our time runs out, we find ourselves waiting to be fulfilled by whatever exciting experiences lie ahead. Interestingly, time flies when we are not always having fun. Especially when studying for a test. Suddenly, there isn’t enough time in the day and you’re already sitting in your desk, pen in hand as your professor hands out the exam. Your face becomes flushed because you think back and wished you had just had a little more time to review that last chapter. And in these moments, it seems like the universe is punishing us for wasting so much time on other occasions.
And perhaps it is. We frequently neglect the time we have, as if we can ever get it back. And obviously we can’t. Upon this realization, we are often told, “you have all the time in the world”. Today, tomorrow, twenty years from now, it is all so finite. Our presence here is so limited and that makes everything so much more special. However, I think we are painstakingly aware of how special certain moments are when we are waiting for them. It’s in those moments of boredom, that we are also nervously excited, and anxiously awaiting what happens next. It’s too bad that we often waste away waiting, watching too much TV, or staring at Facebook hoping that someone will post something interesting. We are filling in the spaces in between events, because those are the opportunities that we can truly appreciate how special time is. Although it is bitterly painful to wait and wait, it usually pays off. And how sweet it is to find something worth waiting for.
