In our busy world of stop and go, of receiving and sending information at lightning-fast digital speed, waiting is a scourge. A 10-minute traffic jam is enough to put a major damper on one’s mood and affect their entire day. It’s not uncommon to observe soured faces and the occasional driver cursing with frustration as their dispositions stagnate in their motionless vehicles; their high-powered, fast-paced lives frozen at a stand-still.
As a child of the digital age, I can empathize. If my text message takes 10 seconds to send instead of the typical 2.5, I’ll hold my phone up and shake it with exasperation, attempting to garner the necessary cell service needed to complete the task at hand. Stop signs are annoying; lines at the grocery store are skipped for the slightly quicker self-checkout kiosks.
So, waiting for things is a total pain. What’s my point?
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As I waited along Route 109, with hundreds of other cars, in what seemed to be an eternal traffic jam, I chose to channel the extra time in a positive way, instead of simply stewing in aggravation, as per usual. Instead of short-sightedly directing my negative emotions in the general direction of humanity, I thought about what may have possibly instigated my presence at this particular point in my life. Why me? Why was I halted among hundreds of other people, deterred from our busy lives, cut off from our destinations? I was going to be late for a meeting…
And then it hit me; an epiphany; almost simultaneously with the blaring sirens of incoming ambulances. Yes, I would be late for my meeting, but at least I wouldn’t be absent from it. Could the parties involved in the accident say the same? I’d far rather be the traffic jam then the accident. Their problem, their automobile accident is far more encompassing and overwhelming then a simple 10-minute tardiness.
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Too often in our busy lives, we become short-tempered and impatient because of tiny inconveniences—little things we had formerly taken for granted, stripped away from us, causing us to morph into massive drama queens. Sometimes it’s important for us to step back and realize insignificance of our problems, and thank our lucky stars that it’s the traffic jam and not the accident.