Waiting

There's something nice about waiting. It's a gentle reminder that not everything can be executed perfectly, timed to the minute, or just as you want it. It's an exercise in patience, keeping oneself occupied, and being okay with inactivity. I am reminded of all those times traveling when I had no choice but to sit and wait hours upon hours for the strike to be over, the next bus to pull into the depot, the overnight but to arrive, the flood to abate or the bus to show up (or not). You learn to roll with the punches and to just BE. And, usually, it calls for some creative problem-solving.

Now that the semester is over, I find myself not planning ahead as much, even if it means I "have" (get?) to wait. I have time to wait, now. In preparation for fixing my car's flat tire, I set up a killer play list on my ipod and brought along two books. I had a fabulous time just sitting in the sun, reading, listening and waiting for five hours.

I headed out for dinner and ended up at BasilDocs, which I think is the best pizza in Denver. I never would have allotted the precious twenty minutes to wait for dinner during the semester. Now, I was free to just sit outside on the picnic benches, feeling the onda of summer and waiting.

At my yoga class, the instructor always says, "If you have time, feel free to stay in Chavasina as long as you'd like." This is usually about the time my heart starts racing, my mind starts making To-Do lists and I hop up and out as fast as I can. But today, I did have time to stay!