The words popped up in a commercial. "Come to Colorado now," a voice intoned. "Waiting is not living."

   "Only ten more years until I retire," I heard a hotel employee say recently. You have heard the same words from fellow caregivers. Maybe you have said them yourself.

   The language of waiting is woven into our culture and our way of thinking. It can destroy your life.

   If all you do when you look at a photograph or painting is wonder what it is and where it was taken than you have not seen the image. You have misspent the wealth of the moment. 

   Every moment you spend in the waiting room of your life is a moment lost to the present.  After all, what happens to many when the hoped-for retirement day finally arrives?

   You may soon feel adrift missing the challenges of your calling and the companionship of your colleagues.  You may once again wish yourself out of the present – this time looking back instead of forward, avoiding the only thing you have – now.  

   Those partners in crime, Waiting & Wishing, will once again have stolen a piece of your life. 

   How do you protect yourself from these thieves? Next time you find yourself wishing a red light would would turn green turn off the radio and say a prayer for a friend.

   Whenever you wake up on a Monday wanting it to be Friday, think of new ways to enjoy Monday. Why destroy every Monday of your life wishing it was a Friday?

   Stuck in an actual waiting room? Stop counting the minutes you have been sitting there. Instead, count your blessings.

   Love the moment. 

-Erie Chapman  

NOTE: My new book, Inside Radical Loving Care, has been published and is now available on Amazon. It will also be available shortly on Kindle and other e-book readers.