Waiting and Wondering ( #AtoZChallenge )

I wonder what would happen if we didn't have to wait for anything anymore?   My guess is that we would no longer value that which we formerly waited on and with the loss of wondering, imagination would be diminished.    I can only wonder...

A figurine from my sister Joy's collection.

           When you think about it, most of life is spent waiting.   We wait for night so we can go to bed or we might lie awake in the dark early morning waiting for the alarm to stir us out of bed.  We wait for meals when hunger distracts us or wait for someone to get out of the bathroom so we can be next.  If you think back on your life you can likely come up with countless instances from early childhood on when the wait became obsessive at times. 

           Some of you might remember the mounting anticipation as Christmas came closer.  As the signs declaring the approach of that holiday appeared, we kids waited with anticipation as we watched bauble laden lit trees go up in our living rooms and gaily wrapped mystery parcels stacked beneath those trees.  We wondered what we were going to get this Christmas and the waiting became almost too much to bear.

          Life is all about waiting.  Waiting to finish school, start a career, get married, have a family, buy a house, retire, and eventually die.  It's one wait after another on this journey of life.  Once we reach one milestone of life, we begin turning our thoughts to the next one.  Much like the kids in the back seat wondering, "Are we there yet?" we are on a long journey with many stops.  Getting to one destination is not the real end to the journey.  Rather than wondering if we have arrived to where we thought we were going, we might more fittingly ask, "Where do we go next?"

         This is me, right now at this time of my life.  It's been a long exciting journey with so many stops and sidetracks along the way.  And as far as I'm concerned there are so many more places to go, people to meet, and experiences to be had.  I'm waiting, but still wondering as I move toward my next destination.  I am also working on it.  Dreams start passively, but disappear like early morning fog if they are not acted upon.

         Pondering, planning, and pursuing are the actions of the dreamer who wants to make a reality out of a perceived will-o'-the-wisp.  No dream can become a reality without some wondering and waiting.  That is the essence of dreams.  We wonder about an idea.  We map out a journey to achieve that idea. We then work on that idea to make it as real as it can be.  Then, once everything is set into motion, the waiting begins.

        Imagine that your life is a brick house.  The bricks are what we think of when we consider the structure of that house.  The part that we usually don't think much about is the mortar holding all those bricks together.  The bricks are the parts of our lives that are most meaningful--this is what we see when we look at our lives.  But the mortar is the time spent waiting and linking everything in our lives together to make it one coherent structure.  The house that we live in; the house that we are.

          And now I'm going to add a new wing to my metaphorical life house.  Keeping in the spirit of the metaphor I am assembling my building tools and preparing my blueprints. I haven't finished building my life house yet.  I've got work to do...

        Have you ever built a house?    What do you think would happen if you started building a house with no idea how you wanted it to look or anything else about the structure?    Have you ever had a dream fulfilled without any waiting or wondering on your part?