Wait

​It was Merril’s turn to pick a word from the dictionary.  It occurred to me today how hard it is for us to cheat.  Once a finger points to a word we gather close to see what the word is.  Why does it seem writing is getting smaller and smaller?
The word was “wait.”  It reminded me of many things, but one was a Hagar the Horrible cartoon I saw where Lucky Eddie told Hagar “never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”  Hagar responded, “good idea, I was going to have tomorrow off.”
This wait is not the “wait” of Christmas singers in the UK (which I never knew about until reading this).  This “wait” was as in, “to defer an action or departure for a specific time.” Like a garage sale we had planned.  It was due to happen on the date all the rain was forecast.  So we waited.  Rescheduled.  Good thing to as it rained and rained.  There were other activities planned for that weekend, but they were cancelled.  It seemed the rain just did not want to stop.  There was flooding everywhere.
I have mentioned before how I like to wait.  A guy tore strips off me and I said I’d ring him to talk about it.  I waited a few days and rang him.  He had forgotten about it completely and I did not bring it up.  He had obviously let it go so I did too.
Another fella I said I would ring in a few days.  I did and his response was, “if you’d rung yesterday, you would have gotten a different response.”  The response was born of having a chance to settle down.
Another time I did not wait, and I regret it.  I like to be a man of my word and if I commit to something verbally, I like to fulfil it even if I regret having made the commitment.  It invariably costs me either in time or financially or both.
So often when I don’t wait, what I say does not represent the best me.  Unfortunately, others (and I do it) act on what is said, even though what was said may have been in the heat of the moment. No wonder they recommend counting to 10 before responding.
Often I say nothing.  I find it is better to do that then to fuel a fire.  There are times when others are present, I find it necessary to contradict a blatant lie that would negatively affect others if allowed to stand.  But thankfully those times tend to be the exception rather than the rule.  Some things matter.  Most don’t.
I do try and live peaceably with others.  Sometimes that involves restraint.  Waiting can be hard, but I have found it is always preferable to do so than to be a bull in a china shop.