It pays to wait
You may have guessed from my post “Multi-tasking and Mindfulness”, I’m not good at waiting, especially if it’s due to procrastination, on my part or anyone else’s. Benjamin Franklin’s proverb “Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today” fuels me to seize life and its opportunities. “Carpe diem” is one of my oft-used mantras at home, as is “Make hay when the sun shines” and “Procrastination is the thief of time”. A great way, I’ve discovered, to get my children to perform spectacular, circus-grade eyerolls. Also a good way to have my husband to make a hasty exit from the room when I unleash my list of “things to do”.
I’ve found there can be magic in waiting.
My summer gardening was proceeding well, except for my yellow cherry tomatoes. After planting the seedlings, I waited endlessly for them to produce a fruit or two. Months later, the plants were bare but lanky, resembling Jack’s beanstalk but stubbornly yielding no tomato.
In July, I was ready to yank them out and dispose of them. Luckily, I got busy with other things and couldn’t perform the wicked deed. Thank goodness! Lo and behold, last month, I spotted tomatoes popping up on the vine! Ecstatic, I announced to the family that caprese salads were in our future. Two days later, I wandered around my garden and discovered that the wretched chipmunks had been at my vegetables, and every item had distinctive teeth marks emblazoned on it. Determined to fight these intruders, I vowed to create deterrents that would make life difficult for them. Several twine twists later, the fruits all gently encased in protective bags, they were free to grow in all their fruity splendour, with nary a chipmunk in sight.
Very satisfyingly, today, I harvested dozens of the cute little things and everyone’s enjoying them.
The lesson - if you give things a bit of time, they can work out well for you. The same applies to applying for a job, or for a particular program at university. Sometimes it takes ages to hear back – but with a little patience, luck and positivity, the news is often good, even it arrives much later than you expected.
As for me, I’ve learned that if I want to find the ‘real’ magic, sometimes I might have to wait. This growing season, I vow to do just that. If you find me fussing about tomatoes not growing, please call me out!
Email me: bernadette@gogettercoaching.com .