Ever notice our patience level varies at different ages? Patience is what makes the heart grow fonder, right? Apparently not. Life's milestones should be moments that we allow to arrive when they are to arrive, not sooner, not later. Think about it....
When we are just mere children... you know, the age where you are not allowed to do anything "cool" like drive a car, stay up late, go to a "R" rated movie, or even have a beer. It all depends upon what we desired back then. Being the youngest of four kids, I can honestly attest to the idea that I was quite impatient for some things. Seeing my older siblings getting freedoms that I wished I could do really frustrated me. As I wished that time moved faster so I could do what they were allowed to do, time never was fast enough. I do find it comical, that as we get to certain milestones, they seem to go past in a blink of an eye. Waiting to turn 16, pushing time to make it to 21, saying "whoa" to getting 30, and screaming "holy crap" when I hit 40. Where did the time go? I do not think I got to enjoy any of those milestones long enough as time pushes us forward. I know that I have some time (roughly 6-1/2 years) before the big 5-0 hits, but am I really ready to face getting even older if I feel that I am missing out on what I pushed time being impatient for? I mean, I drive a car, but the appreciation for the privilege died off faster than it took to get there. I have seen an "R" rated film, was it really as exciting as it should have been as I pushed to get old enough to go? I have had a beer (or two) and have been in a few bars, but where is the excitement that I longed for to race time to get to that point? Staying up or staying out late is something I have managed to experience, but why is it as I got older, the desire to do that has become more of a hindrance than an asset? I hated naps as a kid, now I actually look forward to the opportunity? What is that all about? I have been hurrying up to wait... that is what it is.
Now, hurrying up to wait comes in many packages. Some more frustrating than others. As I went to take DD to school because she was running late, I noticed a lot, and I mean a lot, of people pushing their foot so hard on the gas pedal just to slam on the brakes just as hard. Really? Is it worth making a drive from point 'A' to point 'B' a NASCAR event? Tailgating someone with hopes that either the road offers an opening to fly around or that "slow poke" in front of them will finally speed up is so common, yet so comical when once they get an open spot to really fly past people, they are hit with a red light and are required to stop. Talk about efforts falling short. I happen to have a hurry up and wait scenario that has been moving at a snails pace for the past few years. The "skinny" person inside of me is screaming to be seen and I have tried doing everything right to lose the weight, but become so frustrated that it is not falling off faster. I wanted to get thin, like yesterday, but I am still staggering out of the starting block as I see it. As I think about it, I am kind of like that insane driver racing to get somewhere, just to slam on the brakes when things start moving. I just wonder.... when I do get to my determined destination (like that insane driver)... then what? Chances are, their point 'A' has also a point 'B', point 'C', point 'D', and so forth.
I can only say that it is fine timing to actually take the foot off the gas pedal in life and actually take the time to enjoy what it has to offer... to actually admire the sights along the way. As I watched DD step out of my truck this morning to hurry off to school, I realized that she is no longer that baby that kept me up at nights, fought every step of the way to learn from me how to eat, use the potty, and walk. Time seems to be really flying in my eyes.... Before I know it... she will be all grown, independent and on her own. I can only hope that I can teach her one thing... to not hurry up life to wish you can make it wait when you get my age.
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