Your estimated wait time is something you hear anytime you call a business to pay a bill, get your vehicle serviced like an oil change, or go to a busy restaurant without reservations. The waiting game is a game your girl doesn’t like to play because I think about all the things I could do besides waiting. Although I despise waiting, knowing the estimated wait time is a little reassuring; I rather know instead of standing around because, at that moment, I can decide if it’s worth the wait or am I just going to look for another option. Growing up, I was the most impatient person, and as soon as I knew there was waiting involved, I would sigh why because “I wanted what I wanted when I wanted it.” I didn’t particularly appreciate waiting at restaurants, doctor’s offices, beauty shops, or even in the line at Dairy Queen, and I love an Oreo blizzard from Dairy Queen. The thing I had to learn was in this life; I was always going to have to wait on something whether I liked it or not. Imagine going to a restaurant and you are told the estimated wait time is 20 minutes, and you leave, to only go to the next and the wait time is longer. I can guarantee you will probably have some not so holy words to utter out of your mouth because now your stomach is really gone be touching your back. If you go to the beauty shop and get a style that requires you to sit under the dryer for 30 minutes, but you sit for 15 only, your hair will be a hot ass mess, and you’ll have to start over. So why don’t we wait?
Desperate Times
If we can sit and wait on the phone with Verizon for 30 minutes because they have extreme hold times, why can’t we wait on everything else we want in the same manner? Yes, while waiting for someone to pick up the phone, you might be a little agitated, but what options do you have. If you are calling, you need something that chat can't do, and that's a favor; I know in my history of calling Verizon, it was always for a payment arrangement that went past the dates I already requested. We have all been in this situation with a bill at some point in our lives, so I am not going to front like Verizon wasn’t the thorn in my side because it was. You are waiting out of desperation and not out of convenience because you have a need, not a want. The options are nonexistent, and depending on when you make that phone call, the likelihood of your phone being disconnected is looking like “You should’ve not waited until the last minute.” So, you sit and sometimes wait longer than the estimated wait time because who wants to risk hanging up and having a longer wait time. I utilize my wait time to fold some clothes, cook dinner, scroll social media, sing to the hold music, or multitask and pay bills online because why not fill that time I’m waiting with being productive. I know that eventually, someone will be on the other end of the line because I have that much faith. After all, I can’t afford to pay the ultimate price of having disconnected services.
What's Your Price?
The problem is that while we are waiting on a job offer, to be found by the love of our life, prayers to be answered, relationships to be reconciled, or a door to be opened, we don’t do anything but complain. What’s the point of complaining or getting upset when you know you must wait. The utilization of patience will get you so much further because eventually, something will happen on the other end. We are too busy complaining that we don't realize that we may not even be ready to receive what we are waiting for. We don’t fill that time with knowing who we are, preparing for the job, and doing the necessary work on ourselves. We don't believe that if we hold out a little longer, our time will come, but instead, we take matters into our own hands. We force something still in the process, which only delays us from getting to our destiny. We should be somewhere singing, “Hold to his hands God’s unchanging hands, because sometimes you must fill your spirit with positive things while waiting. Yes, it may not feel good while waiting but imagine if you get in a relationship that’s not for you because you didn’t wait; Baby, you will wish you did. I experienced it because I saw the relationships those around me had, and I started to desire that. I was looking for love in all the wrong places. I was in a physical, emotional, mental, and financially abusive relationship for almost nine years that could’ve cost me my life because I didn't wait. I should’ve been living my best 18-year-old life, but instead, I was in bondage, trying to find a way out. The price of not waiting was higher than I could’ve imagined, but I’m grateful I didn’t pay the ultimate price and lose my life. I have also witnessed first and secondhand the consequences of not waiting. The price has been foreclosures, repossessions, job terminations, death, poor health, bitterness, jealousy, etc. People are too focused on the wait and not the faith. If we could sit back and listen to the music while we hold, we would forget about the estimated wait time.
1. How long are you willing to wait?
2. What will you do while waiting?
3. What Price are you willing to pay?
4. When will you remove the expectations of your wait time?
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