In this brief episode of Nanalan’, main character Mona reads a story with Nana and learns that as difficult as waiting can be, there are lots of ways to see it as a good thing. So what are you waiting for? Here are three mindful lessons about waiting from Nanalan’.
3 Good Things about Waiting, Inspired by Nanalan’
1. Waiting is part of the time it takes to grow. Mona’s storybook, Wendy Learns to Wait, illustrates how things in nature need time to grow and change, and it’s all just part of the process. Mona learns that in time, a tadpole will turn into a frog, while a tiny seed planted in a garden will eventually yield a plant with big, juicy tomatoes.
While we live in a culture obsessed with efficiency and shortcuts, nature’s example is always there to remind us that real growth is not instant. We trust that the bare branches of winter will soon be covered with lush spring leaves, but we’d never think of yelling at the buds to grow faster. Can we trust ourselves the same way?
2. While we wait, it’s a chance to enjoy right now. In the storybook, young Wendy is annoyed that her breakfast isn’t ready yet: “I don’t like waiting. It takes too long. I just want my toast, is that so wrong?” Whether it’s waiting for the toast to pop, for a bus to carry us to work, or to see a desired outcome from our mindfulness practice, most of us can relate to the feeling of getting impatient. Our body fidgets, our brow furrows, our thoughts start in with Why me? Sooo bored. I hate this!
And what happens? You guessed it: We miss the present, and all its unique magic.
3. Good things come to those who wait…or do they? It’s a phrase that has inspired many a lyric, and it gives a cheery ending to Mona’s storybook. But as adults, we know that “good things come to those who wait” isn’t always the case. We wait to get the promotion, or for the person we like to like us back, and it doesn’t always happen. Even with patience and work, all our hopes don’t always come true. That’s just life.
Still, being patient seems to have inherent benefits. Learning self-regulation skills—awareness, flexibility, creativity—when we’re young can help us throughout our lives, as child psychologists have often discussed with the well-known “marshmallow test.” In this study, choosing to not eat the marshmallow right away didn’t mean everything would go perfectly for the children in the study for the rest of their lives. It just meant that they were learning to make choices that would help them down the road. When we approach waiting with good self-regulation, we make it easier on ourselves no matter the outcome.
3 Practices to Train in the Olympic Sport of Waiting
- Find calm with the WAIT practice: Kelly Barron provides the easy-to-remember acronym W.A.I.T. to help us be more mindful when we’re waiting.
- Reconnect with a deeper sense of self: When we’re tuned in to what Cara Bradley calls “the ground of our being,” it allows us to release judgment about where we are and where we might think we should be.
- Drop out of boredom. Mindfulness helps relieve boredom, writes Ed Halliwell, because it “invites us to be interested in every aspect of life, even the so-called boring bits.” Check out his seven habit-change tips that will brighten a dull moment, whatever you may be waiting for.
