Today I muse on waiting, on waiting rooms, on waiting on results, on waiting for good news and bad. I muse joyfully on the courage to wait, the patience to wait, the hope to wait.
We wait a lot. We have to – at stop lights, at crosswalks, in checkout lines. Currently, I’m waiting for treatment for breast cancer. I was diagnosed in July and now will wait for surgery and treatment. Mercifully, I did not wait too long for a mammogram so my prognosis is good; I’ll wait and see.
“Esperar” is the Spanish verb meaning “to wait.” It also translates “to hope.” I am waiting and hoping for the political situation here in the United States to improve, to make sense, to progress to a place where civility is returned, where people don’t wait too long to take action.
I do not wait to call the governor, to reach out to representatives, to share my views. Waiting too long on that front seems exceedingly dangerous; waiting for others to do the communication and grunt work is precarious at best. We’ve already been waiting too long and the political climate is mind numbing.
I love to wait in rooms where there are good reads and comfortable chairs. A view helps.
Waiting allows a pause, reflection, time to do nothing but wait. An aquarium in a waiting room soothes; a television, to me, annoys. I don’t need more screens, I value the emptiness, the meditative quality of a good wait, a peaceful wait, a quiet wait.
Being able to wait is a gift, a kindness to ourselves as we rush about. But don’t wait too long on things that really matter: mammograms, contacting those in charge of federal programs and dollars, stop lights.
I muse joyfully you will act in urgency but wait in peace. Esperar: to wait AND to hope.
Susan Dromey Heeter writes from Newmarket and often from the road where she joyfully muses on life in the fast and slow lanes. She drives a stick shift, can also ride a unicycle and recently retired after 30-plus years of teaching. Dromey Heeter finds joy primarily in Milk Duds and people who make her laugh, not necessarily in that order.Reach her @dromeyheeter on Instagram and/or @BudgetVogue63. She can also be reached at dromeyheeter@gmail.com.