The “Waiting Room”

“Annoyance to Opportunity”

How do you move from annoyance to opportunity while you are waiting? How do you build up your tolerance to wait? My blog provides some good tips and ideas for you while you “wait” for change to occur in your life:

In practical terms the waiting room is defined as a room (as in a doctor’s office) for the use of persons (such as patients) who are waiting. Other words for the waiting room are waiting area, foyer, reception, concourse or a meeting point. Why is a waiting room important? The existing evidence concludes that the waiting room experience is an important driver of patient satisfaction. Surveys of primary care offices show that how patients feel about their physician encounters and the quality of their health care is directly related to the impression of their time in the waiting room. One study published by the College of Family Physicians of Canada titled The Waiting Room “wait” details about going from annoyance to opportunity. Isn’t annoyed a good way to describe how we can feel when we are waiting for something in our lives to change? Initially, we can feel annoyed because the wait seems too long. This can quickly move to agitation and frustration because how we thought our lives should be unfolding is not happening. Maybe we aren’t where we want to be in life in regard to the things we wanted to accomplish. Or maybe, the people in our lives aren’t progressing fast enough to suit our timelines. Annoyance is almost inevitable because we cannot see the big picture or what is happening behind the scenes. Usually in many waiting situations, there is no visible order. 

Therefore, how do we remain joyful and hopeful while sitting in our personal “waiting room”? Hopefully, while we are in our waiting rooms for a while we will begin to realize the “opportunity” that exist to bloom where you are planted. Often when we are in our waiting room, we do not seize the opportunity to grow whether that is intellectually, emotionally or spiritually. Let’s dig a little further by asking the next question…..

What is the psychology behind waiting? I am glad you ask! I read a paper by David Maister, The Psychology of Waiting Lines. The piece was aimed at people who operate stores, restaurants, doctors’ offices, and other places where people fuss about being kept waiting. Maister’s main point is that the actual time we’re waiting may have little to do with how long the wait feels. Just to mention a few facts from his paper that stood out to me was if you are unoccupied the time feels longer, anxiety makes waiting seem longer and the more valuable the service, the longer a person is willing to wait. To sum that up, if I occupy myself while waiting with learning new things about myself, others, and the world it helps to reduce anxiety. Also, the value I have already placed on what I am waiting for helps me to wait more patiently. What are you waiting on? Perhaps you could get busy by learning, networking, and making the most of your waiting room experience to move from annoyance to opportunity!

Some of us are waiting and believing for God to perform His perfect will in our lives. In the scriptures, the word wait means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust. To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end. To wait upon the Lord means planting the seed of faith and nourishing it. Waiting biblically is to be actively filling your mind with the truth about God’s character through His word.  Waiting on God is not only difficult; sometimes it seems impossible. We want things to happen in our own timing, according to our plans. But God doesn’t operate on our schedules and expecting that He will sets one up for disappointment.

Let’s take a look at the benefits or opportunities from waiting on God in our personal waiting rooms:

1. We find strength (Isaiah 40:31)
2. We learn not to be anxious (Phil 4:6)
3. Waiting on God can keep us out of trouble (Genesis 15:4)
4. We understand the sovereignty of God better (Isaiah 46:10)

I believe Ps:27:14 sums it up perfectly:

“Wait on the Lord; be of courage. and He shall strengthen their heart. (Ps 27:14 KJV) In the Message bible it reads: Stay with God! Dont quit. I’ll say it again: Stay with God.

In conclusion, moving from annoyance to opportunity while you are waiting is not that difficult, but it does take intentionality on your part. I hope you have gained a greater appreciation for “waiting” and the fact that it comes with so many opportunities for emotional, intellectual and spiritual growth.

Best regards,

Dr. G