#42 Waiting
Sometimes when you are forced to wait is when you can truly relax. I often reach 10-15 minutes in advance for an appointment and I spend that 10-15 minutes complaining to myself about my terrible planning. I could have slept for 15 more minutes or made myself a cup of tea before leaving! While having to wait, I spend this short window of time 200m away from my appointment venue looking at the manicured trees if there are any, trying to spot a new colour in the sea of grey cars.
On one cold and extremely windy day, I arrived 30 minutes early for my appointment. I had an exam in 30 minutes so I didn’t want to spend that time scrolling through Tiktok dances on Instagram reels or self-help Twitter threads on my phone. The examination centre had no waiting room so I had to wait outside. I found a shelter under a barely-there protrusion of a big matchbox building. I sat against the wall wondering what I could do for the next half an hour. I wanted to calm the pre-exam anxiety out of me and the constant shivering from the 30km/h wind was making it worse. I sat there cross-legged, eyes-closed, trying to meditate for 30 minutes. I could hear the loud wind, the fast cars on the highway, the ringing of a bus bell arriving at a nearby bus stop every seven minutes or so. I swayed like an unbalanced pendulum with the wind. I heard an odd bird, some anxious murmurs of other exam-takers. I had put a 25 minutes timer on my phone to take me out of my trance and to avoid looking at the time every five minutes.
Tingggggg.
And the time was up, I wished it wasn’t. I was shaken out of my sleep by the sound of my phone. I woke up with watery eyes and made my way to the exam centre.
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