Written by: Venice Anne D. Avendaño
Waiting, in broad range, is meaningful. We can say that waiting is wasting in a sense where you are totally doing nothing. However, I believe that human beings in nature are busy people and there’s no such thing as ‘nothing to do.’ On the contrary, waiting is not always wasting. It is a matter of how well you spend your time while you are waiting. Waiting requires time and it doesn’t necessarily mean to do nothing while you are waiting.
Let us view the perspective of Juan Tamad. It is a story of a lazy boy who is always in trouble. You can get the moral lesson to this story in the scenario where he came upon a guava tree bearing ripe fruit. Due to his laziness and stupidity, he lies beneath the tree and waited for the fruit to fall into his mouth. Unfortunately, he did not succeed to get the fruit because he absolutely done nothing but to lie down and he did not exert effort. He waited and what he did is waste of time. He is waiting for something, which he can instantly get by climbing on the tree. The main point is that don’t wait for something to fall upon you if you can do something to have it either way and have perseverance to get what you want.
The phrase, “waiting is wasting,” can be denoted accordingly to circumstances we are facing in life. It also depends on how we view life but generally, it is always worth the wait. To further elaborate this, there is certain question that we must answer, “Why do we wait? or What are we waiting for?” Assuredly, there is something, someone or some situation that we are anticipating. With that, there is a logical way for you to wait.
Imagine yourself riding in a bus, for you to reach your destination you must wait. Whether you are in a hurry or not, you cannot control the velocity of the vehicle and you would not be at your end point instantly. So, what could you do while you are waiting? Just think. Think and be aware of the possibilities. And I guess that is a way on how you can spend your time. Waiting in some way is an opportunity for you to make yourself comfortable, enjoy yourself and take time to think.
Rushing things has a possibility for frustrations and disappointments. I knew someone who is planning to build his own corporation. I met him last year and we had several conversations. This man is really working and trying hard to put his dream into reality. He is at age 46 now and he set goal that by this year 2019, the corporation is starting to operate. He admitted that he wasted his 20 years of life (I do not know what he actually did in those times) and he somewhat awaken by reality and he just woke up with a thought in his mind about putting up this corporation. That’s quite difficult and at his age, he was like rushing in to be successful with his career. You might be thinking that if you were in conversation with him you’d say, “Hey, just wait and take time to think.”
On the other hand, imagine a seedling rooted on the land. Before it can become a tree, it will undergo in the process of growth. The same way before it bears fruits. Logically, while you are waiting for it to grow and have its fruit, you will take good care of it. Harvest requires time for you to wait and there are lot of things that can happen while you are waiting. An idea that corresponds to this is like doing your job why you are anticipating for the payday. It intends you to act and do your work in some manner.
Moreover, let us visualize a picture of a conceived woman. For a baby to be fully developed in her womb, it will take nine months. In every aspect of our lives, I believe that waiting has an essential part of getting through it and allows us to develop character as we grow in maturity. And in the process of development, it requires you to wait.
“Bear your cross as you wait for your crown.” This is a phrase I once heard in a Pastor’s preaching and I keep this in mind. Actually, it’s a lyric from the song, O Come to the Altar by Elevation Worship. We are called to be victorious. Whenever we are facing good or bad situations and we are asking God a favor, I believe that there are only three choices. It is either God says yes, no or wait. Rest assured that your wait will not be in vain. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” If it’s not yet time, God says ‘wait.’
I recognized that in today’s generation, numerous teenagers are entering into relationships (of being partner or couple). Many were led to countless break-ups and unhealthy relationships. In my observation, the main reason is wrong time. They failed to wait and see what lies beyond.
During my on-the-job training, I worked at Cognizant Technology Solutions Philippines, Inc. at Taguig City in a Human Resource – Talent Acquisition Group. This is a recruitment team and I became part of it as the one administering examinations and doing front desk task. It is an Information Technology – Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) company. I have witnessed lot of aspiring applicants submitting their applications. Each day, around 60 to 120 walk-in applicants undergo in the recruitment and selection process. Since there were limited facilities and equipment in the recruitment area, the candidates are in-line and they tend to wait for their next turn until others finished their examinations first. Since some examinations have no time limit, there is a tendency to wait more. They took an hour or more than an hour waiting for their turn. Now, in the span of waiting, can we consider it wasting?
In my perspective, waiting and wasting is not a perfect match and it contradicts each other in a way that waiting can reflect positivity while of that wasting is negativity. Waiting may not always lead you to positive results but there is one thing for sure. This is a test of one’s patience. If there’s nothing for you to wait, how could you evaluate yourself if you do have patience? By this idea, can you say that it is a waste to test your patience?