Every now and then I come across a quite distressing situation, the main feature of which is “disorganization.” I — personally — am a very organized person and that is why, every time I am confronted with a chaotic circumstance, I can’t help noticing and wondering. The place I am at right now seems like a zoo. People moving around, here and there, with no one telling them where to go or trying to establish any kind or order. “I” am supposed to meet a person who (I have been told) should arrive any minute but... I have been waiting for quite some time and no one has showed up so far. Don’t ask me where I am... I won’t say it but, I can assure you, it’s all true! And it has happened more than once.
My reflections make me think that life, too — for some — is based on a similar state of confusion. They don’t have a plan, they seem not to have a purpose. They float here and there, knowing neither where they are or should be going, nor do they ask for anybody’s cooperation in their seemingly aimless search. Leaves carried by the wind. Others are waiting for someone or something to show up in order to make them happy, in order to arrange their lives in a coherent way. Such are those who move from job to job, from one relationship to another, from place to place — always waiting for the “right” person or circumstance to miraculously materialize out of thin air. But, if they don’t decide to put some order in their lives, they will probably go on waiting... forever. As, right now, I don’t intend to do so, I decide to give up waiting, I get up and leave!
The other side of the coin could be actual “impatience,” a trait that is very common in many individuals’ character because the human nature tends to lead them toward restlessness. They usually deny this truth which, unfortunately, is in fact “true.” They are like the man who was fervently praying with these words, “Please, God, give me patience. But I want it NOW!” What about us? What about you? How willing are you to wait for things to follow their course before materializing in your life? Do you accept to stand by calmly or do you become restless, keep thinking, sometimes even obsessing over the result that seems to be too is slow to manifest?
If you look around you, you will see that everything needs “time” in order to happen in the correct way. A chrysalis cannot be hurried into becoming a butterfly before its time. A bud cannot be compelled to become a flower earlier than it’s due to open its petals. If you try to accelerate any process, you shall fail. On the other hand, it seems that modern life literally pushes people to go, go, go! Faster and faster! I wonder, “Why?” I also wonder, “Where?” Why do people feel the need to rush? Where are they rushing toward?
By the way, this is what always comes to my mind every time I see an impatient driver cutting a red light to.... go and be compelled to stop at the next one! No one will ever be able to add time to the length of their lives. Even by acting faster, by doing more, no one can be sure that the quality of their lives will improve. On the contrary. An Italian proverb says, “The cat who was in a hurry gave birth to blind kittens.” Worth pondering upon, isn’t it? And it is also interesting to reflect on how absolutely every situation has two opposite sides, and both can be interpreted and used either in a positive or in a negative way. Therefore... To wait or not to wait? This “Hamlet’s doubt” is a serious matter because its solution can make your life heaven or hell.
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Blog: recreateyourlifetoday.blogspot.com
— Elsa Franco Al Ghaslan, a Saudi English instructor and published author (in Italy), is a long-time scholar of positive thinking.
E-mail: [email protected]
Blog: recreateyourlifetoday.Blogspot.com
Creative Thinking: Hamlet’s doubt
