Expressing Peace. Waiting in Line. 73.
Waiting in Line
statesman.com
At a breakfast meeting this morning, Cindy and I were waiting in line to fill our plates. The line moved quickly. The others were friendly. The food supply was ample. And as I stepped, stopped, stepped, stopped, stepped my way to the scrambled eggs and hash brown potatoes, I realized today’s topic.
Research from Cal State – Sacramento says Americans spend some 37 billion hours a year standing in line. That is a number too large to comprehend. It equals more than 42 thousand years.
That’s a lot of good time, I suggest.
For the moment, ignore the stress, tension, anxiety, feeling of time-loss you can feel when waiting in line. Whether it’s at the grocery store, the movies box office, the security gate at the airport, sitting in your car at the service station or the freeway merge, waiting in line doesn’t usually get high marks.
But it should. Carolyn Gregoire makes the point that “Most of us would like to have more peace and stillness in our lives…” I take that as a near-universal truth.
And standing in line gives us great opportunities to know that peace, to nurture it, to grow our ability to enjoy it.
How? Certainly, your thoughts of what will bring you the most peace-awareness are the best answers. For starters, I offer:
- Smile. Make eye contact with a stranger and send a smile. Chances are you’ll receive one in return.
- Perform a random act of kindness by letting someone in line in front of you or helping with a suitcase or unloading the grocery cart.
- Create — in your mind or on paper — a list of people, places, things for which you’re grateful. IOW, a gratitude list.
And when you’re through the line, a bit of praying will nicely complement the new-found good from waiting in line.
Maker of Peace,
how wonderful that you let me know
what might make me impatient
can be a chance for knowing peace instead.
Let me give attention
to specific sights and sounds around me.
Let me share a moment’s friendship
with a truly perfect stranger.
Let me release my time and energy
for the well-being of someone else.
Let me remember I have the power
to do all this myself,
to cherish line-waiting as peace-making
and realizing it is your Peace.
And so it is. Amen. Amen.
Enjoy Peace. Express Peace.
In: Inner Peace, meditation, Peace, Peacefulness, Praying, Spirituality · Tagged with: Intention, Joy, Peace, power of good, praying, spiritual simplicity
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