Weighing in the art of waiting

Time is a scarce commodity. Isn't it? How many of us wish If there were more hours in a day?

We do not indulge in some of our favourite activities because we feel we don't have time. We don't spend enough time with our loved ones because we feel we don't have time. We don't fulfill some of our duties because we feel we don't have time. In all the cases, we feel guilty about not being able to find time. 

Then there are instances where we are asked to show up at sometime and the other party does not show up on time. We wait. If we look at it, this is the time that's gifted to us. Because there is no other engagement planned in that time. What do we do then? 

Do we do our favourite things? Do we talk to our loved ones? Do we do our duties? Hell no, we get impatient. We hate (briefly) the party that made us wait. We get nervous about not having time for next planned activity. We spend the waiting time worrying almost all the time. 

Why can't we wait patiently? What does it take to wait in peace? 

I think waiting patiently comes from practicing empathy. Do you think the other party who have committed the time for the meeting would make you wait intentionally? If no, then you can be relaxed as they will also work their best towards arriving as early possible. What if the answer the former question is yes? Then, we can debate whether this meeting can be postponed/cancelled. If yes, we can immediately do it and go ahead with life. If No, then we will have to accept that we do not have a choice but to wait. What we can then do is to wait in peace. May be this may be the gifted time we did not have for doing our favourite things, talking to our loved ones and fulfilling our duties!