Ready. Set. Wait, I have to pee.

Story of my life, but thankfully it’s only an internal monologue. Just like strong emotions seem to be hard-wired to my tear ducts, I think anticipation is hard-wired to my bladder. 

Before the curtain would open for the school play, before the gun would fire for the start of a cross-country race, before beginning the big plunge on the roller coaster, before going on stage to make my speech, before heading into an intimidating job interview, even before a friend is about to pick me up to go somewhere. It never fails. It’s a dire emergency every time. It doesn’t matter that I’ve already used the bathroom 2-4 times in the last few hours. It also never fails that the crisis is over the minute I begin whatever activity sends my bladder into a tizzy. I think this is just the way my body prepares for something. Anxiety? Maybe. Excitement? Perhaps. Annoying? Definitely.

So why am I talking about my neurotic bladder? Lately, I’ve been thinking about seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. And what do we do that can be counted in all of the above measures? We wait.

I heard a statistic a long time ago about waiting. I don’t remember the source and I think it’s probably inaccurate by now. It stated that the average person spends 5 years of their life waiting. Waiting for what? The bus, to be next in line at the DMV, for a website to load, the phone to ring, your sandwich to be made at the deli, paint to dry? All logistical things we wait for, sure. And maybe it is during those times, that we’re forced to slow down and have time for our thoughts. THAT is a nice thought, especially since I think most people just whip out there trusty cell phone to make themselves feel tasked and occupied.

But what about the abstract things we wait for in life? For instance, how long do you wait to fall in love? How long do you wait for the perfect job to come along? How long do you wait to finally love and accept yourself exactly how you are? How long do you [fill in the blank with whatever it is]?

If you were somehow able to quantify all that waiting, what happens in the interim?

Life.

If you spend so much time waiting for what you wish for, what is to become of what you already have? Perhaps Sheryl Crow was onto something what she said "It's not getting what you want, it's wanting what you've got."

There is this wonderfully awful movie I used to watch as a kid starring Sylvester Stallone. It’s called Over the Top. It’s a movie that involves arm wrestling, truck driving, and child custody. Super movie, go watch it as soon as humanly possible. Anyway, there is a line in the movie that has always stayed with me: “The world meets nobody halfway. When you want something, you gotta take it.” Pretty deep stuff, eh? All kidding aside, I believe it. If you spend all of your time waiting for the stars to align, your prayers to be answered, or whatever it is that your heart desires, then you are just left at a standstill. Yes, I believe in patience and timing, but at some point, you’ve got to give. Make your move. Fall in love, make mistakes, get dirty. What is the worst thing that can happen if things don’t go as planned? You get hurt, embarrassed, rejected? Nah. You find another opportunity and you learn something.

Ignore your bladder and go for it.