The Waiting Game
I thought long and hard about the topic for this column. I contemplated and considered many angles. I daydreamed about it and spent many sleepless nights pondering it. I ultimately decided on a great topic with an excellent premise. It is an age-old tale with a modern twist. It is a unique take on traditional divides. It could very well unify an entire generation while simultaneously educating another. That's because this topic is, wait for it...
Wait. For. It.
Actually, that’s it. Waiting is the topic. See what I did there? I made you wait a whole paragraph before I unveiled it. It might have been entertaining for some of you but it was no doubt torturous for the rest. A few of you might have even stopped reading for a moment just to say out loud, "I don't have time for this, just get to the point already." And, ironically, that is exactly my point.
The problem with our society today is that it is built on the concepts of immediate gratification, instant notification, and constant communication. Our children are impatient, entitled, relentless negotiators who cannot wait for anything because frankly, they've never had to. Of course, I am sure our parents thought the same about us and their parents no doubt thought the same about them.
As a child of the 70s I had to wait for everything. I had to wait until I got home to use the phone and then I had to wait for someone to get off the phone before I could use it. I had to wait patiently every Saturday morning for cartoons to come on, and then I had to wait as I watched the zillions of commercials in between. Every Saturday night I had to wait for shows like Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw to end and then I had to wait for someone to get up and change the channel so I could watch The Love Boat and Fantasy Island while I waited 45 minutes for my chicken pot pie to cook.
When I wrote to friends in other cities or states I had to wait for days or even weeks to receive a letter in return. I had to wait for albums to be released and for DJ's to play the songs that I requested, and then I had to wait in line, sometimes even overnight, to buy tickets for the concerts I wanted to see. I had to wait for a ride to the mall if I wanted to shop, I had to wait for pictures to be developed if I wanted to see them, and I had to wait for the newest encyclopedias to come out if I wanted to learn anything new. I had to wait for tapes to rewind, for library books to be returned, for the shower to get hot, for liquid paper to dry, for news to be reported, and for life all around me to just happen.
When I was a kid I had to wait for everything that seemed important, and now that I am an adult I understand that the most important things in life are worth waiting for.
I waited for years to meet the man of my dreams. We waited a few years before having children and then we waited until each was born to know the gender. I have waited for the right jobs, the right places to live, the right friends, the right opportunities, and the right paths for myself and I now patiently wait to see the choices our three boys will make in their own lives.
When our boys ask me a question, get impatient or demand immediate attention, I usually respond, "Just wait a minute." And that's what I truly hope they will do. I hope they will wait. I hope they will learn to wait for all of the things in their lives that matter. And I hope they come to appreciate the wonderful moments that waiting can create. Because the meaning of life can be summed up in three simple words:
Wait for it...
*Alison Lebovitz is a television host, speaker, nonprofit executive, podcaster and author from Chattanooga, Tennessee, who believes we each have the power and responsibility to make this world a better place. Or at least the potential to make each other laugh.
Visit her website at alisonlebovitz.com
