Waiting With Presence

In the old consciousness, the predominant state is one of waiting for the next thing. And in the new consciousness, even when you're waiting somewhere, you're not really waiting, you're just being where you are. And you can use every opportunity when there is an external waiting, you're waiting at the airline counter or bus, at the traffic light, at the supermarket to meet somebody. You have an appointment waiting somebody to arrive. So much waiting. I read somewhere that the average person who learns, who starts driving at the age of 20 and drives a car every day throughout their lives, how they worked it out, I don't know. They spend, I believe it was four or five days of their life waiting at the red light. If you sum it, add it all up, it's four or five days of your life you spend waiting at the red traffic light. And most people are not happy unless it's just one instance of waiting and so many other occasions when you are waiting. And mostly people are not comfortable with waiting. They get restless, uneasy, complain they shouldn't be waiting. Well, maybe not, but you are waiting. Things should be different. If people only were more efficient and punctual and did their job properly and were aware of the time. But they are not so whenever you are waiting. See if your state of consciousness can be one of just being present, enjoy being where you are. Start with the supermarket. And if you once, if you notice the shift from the restlessness and discontent and complaining, the anger, even irritation with having to wait at the supermarket and then say, okay, is that a pleasant state? Do I really want. Am I. Is it possible to be here in a different way? Do I choose to be in that unpleasant state? Am I forced to be in that unpleasant state? Is somebody forcing me to be irritated? No, I'm just irritated. I can't help it. Well, that's just a thought. That may not be true. I can't help it. And then you realize that you can help it, and you simply drop your irritation and come into the present moment. Irritation is just a thought, should not be happening. I'd rather be out of here than in here. But you're in here. And this is just a tiny thing. Of course, but as we mentioned before, life is made up of tiny things. And if one tiny irritation is followed by another tiny irritation somewhere else and followed by another tiny irritation somewhere else, and every tiny irritation leaves behind something, an energy, and that gradually it builds up and then you get more prone to irritation, and not just irritation. Then add up 100 little irritations and then you become a potentially angry person. Waiting for the next thing to be angry about. Hopefully can find something to be angry about, so can just drop it. You drop it by realizing it's futile, you're actually creating it yourself. It serves no purpose. There's an underlying assumption, and this is a childlike way of looking at the world, or a childish way of looking at the world. An immature childish that says if I get really irritated, things are going to change. In the same way a child might think if I cry hard enough, something will happen. And of course, in the case of the child, often it is the case the parents come running. But if you're an adult and you cry hard enough, not necessarily cry as such, but metaphorically speaking are unhappy, you believe the same thing is going to happen, but it's not. In fact, people run away from you. They don't come and say, oh, you have that energy of get away from me. So it's practice with those little things. So you can not only be free of irritation, you can also actually use those opportunities to be present. Then you welcome every time you're waiting, and if you don't succeed, that's okay occasionally, but you welcome every time you go. Oh. One very small anecdote happened to me recently. I was at a supermarket waiting and the cashier was the slowest that I've ever seen, perhaps in my entire life. And not only did she not know what she was doing, she also engaged every customer in a long conversation. And even I, who is usually okay with these things, could feel a small amount of irritation creeping up. And then immediately I let it out and it went away. And then another one came. But by the time I reached finally reached her, the irritation fortunately was gone and I was present again. And when she saw me, she said, I've been waiting to meet you all my life. And I was so glad that the invitation wasn't there anymore. And she said also that she hadn't been there for very long, not worked there for a long time yet. So she's still learning. And she had recently moved back to Canada after spending 10 years in Maui, Hawaii, where time is not so important. Of course people have a lose relationship with time, island time. So that was an interesting encounter. So it can happen. Irritation can still arise. You don't catch, you're not, you don't catch it. So you have to be alert so that you catch it before it takes you over and then realize you don't want it what for? And it's gone. Related to that is unhappiness. A lot of so called unhappiness is also a childish way of trying to change things by being as unhappy as you can about them. And the underlying unconscious or semi conscious assumption is if I'm really unhappy somebody perhaps God is going to do something about it or I'm going to prove him wrong I'm going to show him how dreadful it is and then finally this is an unconscious assumption behind the unhappiness because you believe in if you are habitually and frequently unhappy you believe that it has a purpose it's an underlying assumption perhaps you wouldn't verbalize it in that way but you believe that it works for you. Of course it doesn't but things are going to change but just need to be really unhappy so that God finally even if you don't believe in God this can still be the mechanism the underlying unconscious assumption behind it something is going to happen and of course the opposite is true because the more unhappy you are with something the more you are stuck in the situation.