We spend a lot of time in our lives ... - Dhamma by Ajahn Jayasāro

We spend a lot of time in our lives waiting for something we want. It might be waiting to be served in a shop, waiting for a traffic jam to end, waiting for someone to say yes to a request, or perhaps waiting for someone to forgive us. There are so many different things we wait for. But what exactly is waiting? How is it different from normal sitting, standing or lying down. Why does it seem to make time slow down so much?

Look to see how the feeling of waiting arises when we allow our minds to drift into the future. Subjectively, waiting is the sense that we are filling in the time between now and when the event in the future occurs. But that sense of waiting so easily leads to tension and frustration. Why not keep the mind in the present and use this interval between the awareness of a need and the moment of its resolution to dwell in calmness and clarity? These short periods of time need not be a source of suffering. They can be enjoyed.

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