Worth the Wait

We recently purchased a little Apple TV box and a Netflix subscription and its amazing to have so many choices for things to watch in our cable/satellite-free house.  The kids have every episode of Super Why and Diego to pick from at TV time, and Bill and I are working our way through the entire Star Trek: Next Generation series (super geeky I know, but it reminds us of our youth).  Having all this media at our fingertips has given me a little pause for thought - not just about the temptation to watch more TV, but the possible deeper implications of the quick-access technology that I love so well.

I generally find waiting to be a pain.  This is why I love shopping and banking online and having my iphone, with access to the whole world, in my pocket.  I know that this instant access can be a dangerous thing - sucking away our time on facebook, enticing us with even better technology (there is an ipad out there somewhere with my name on it...) and enabling us to fill every second of the day with something, just because its there.  But, more than that, I've begun to wonder about the loss of the wait itself.

By bypassing the "wait", what could we be missing? Every time we take care of something online, we could be missing the chance to interact with real people.  Who knows when you might make a meaningful connection with someone?  Waiting gives us tiny blank spaces in our day that could be used for philosophizing, self-reflection or day dreaming.  Waiting also gives you the opportunity to really appreciate something. Think about when you used to wait for an album to be released and then making the trip to the music store to buy it.  Remember the magic of unsealing it and pouring over the liner notes for the first time?  Downloading music is so convenient, but very lackluster in my opinion.

Even more significant, I think we may be losing the ability to live gracefully in the gray areas of life.  Waiting 9 months to learn the sex of your baby (we didn't), staying up all night with your sick child without the ability to diagnose him via the internet, waiting to share good or bad news without the instant convenience of a cell phone - these are all opportunities to develop inner strength, listen to our intuition, relinquish control, increase our faith in God and rely on others for support.  

Sadly, I find that when I do have to wait for something, without the comfort of researching or expediting the process via technology, I don't handle it well.  With my haste to give up waiting, I have lost patience for the times when I really need it. 

I don't see myself giving up my cell phone or cancelling our internet service anytime soon, but I do hope to make an effort to let myself wait and wonder more. Who knows what I may discover when I do?