Waiting in Vain

"Waiting in Vain" From Flickriver (MarcoShenone)

I've been rereading my blogposts from my defunct multiply account and just thought this will be a good repost. Posted three years ago (July 2007). My excuse to post without writing anything new. 

An average person spends roughly around 5 years of his life just waiting. By waiting I mean like waiting for a cab, waiting for food to be served, waiting for your name to be called on the pay counter, or waiting for your yaya to fetch you from school. Small things, really. Things that makes us idle for a while. Naghihintay lang. And with the fast-pace lifestyle we are used to, 5 years is a lot of time. For one, an average lifespan is only 60 years; this makes our waiting time about 8.3% of our lives. For every twelve minutes of our lives, we spend one minute waiting. And this waiting is not even useful, not something you deliberately want to do. Not waiting for big things. Mga mabababaw na bagay lang.

If you’ll think about it, waiting is not that bad at all. Waiting for your coffee to be served for one is not bad at all, but what if you can spend those 5 precious years of waiting for small things for something greater, something fabulous, something legendary, and something you know will be the defining moment of your existence? If that’s the case, then I honestly despise waiting. Iisipin mo na pwede mo pang mabago ang buhay mo with that 5 years. You can make your life better; you can spend more time with the things and persons you truly love. 


Or, you can even destroy your life.

But the point is, nakakapaghintay tayu para sa mga walang kwentang bagay, mga bagay na kaya mo lang hinihintay ay no choice ka… 5 years of our lives dedicated to be transaction costs for small things… Sana lang, wag na natin dagdagan. Don’t waste your life waiting for something nice to happen, waiting for the opportune time, waiting for a miracle. Make a move and do it yourself. Make your own miracle. Carpe Diem! Otherwise, 5 becomes 10 becomes 20 becomes 40 years and you’ll end up watching your own life pass you by.

This applies to everything: your career, your love life, your spiritual formation, your interests, your passion. It is really hard not to wait because it is more comfortable. Sasabihin natin na bukas nalang, or saka na lang, or wag na lang. Iniiwasan natin kasi di natin alam kung kaya ba natin harapin. Or tinatamad lang talaga tayo. It is very comfortable to wait, especially if you know you have time to spare. If you think you can give up about 20 years of your life for waiting, then good for you. But there is no going back. Wala nang what ifs.

When you’re old and cranky, disabled and worn off, how would you like to describe your life? Full of waiting or one heck of a ride? I’d gladly take the second one. I’m sure you’ll pick that too. We don’t want to have regrets, and we sure don’t have time to waste. There is only one road to take for our journey in life. Make sure to choose the right stopovers along the way. Walang reverse eh. So wag na natin dagdagan pa ang paghihintay, 5 years waiting for nonsense is enough. Gawin mo na…

Now the question really is: WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?