Waiting For My Real Life To Begin

I love these 2 new postcards from Postsecrets. I always wondered at how life is one big game of waiting for the next thing to happen.

As a kid, my parents told me to wait until I grew up before making my own decisions. Now at 28, they clearly would still love to keep telling me that, if not for how I remind them that doing so makes them look positively ridiculous.

I also learnt that waiting for exams to end is an exercise in futility. There is always one more to prepare for. My failure to grad not withstanding, everyone around me at 30 or even 40 are still going for the Phd.s, their CFAs, and what-nots.

Then I was waiting to finish my NS obligations, only to be faced with a further 14 years of reservist duty. I started waiting for a girlfriend, and after that comes the wait to get married. Then I spend the rest of my life waiting for kids, so that I can wait for them to repeat my own life cycle of waiting.

I wait for the perfect job to appear in my life, where I can find delight in what I'm doing, and to excel in the tasks. Each job I take supposedly takes me one step closer, but it soon became clear that such satisfaction is a privilege that's denied to almost all save for an exceptional few. So I end up waiting for retirement instead.

The sad thing is, my parents are supposedly retired. But they're still working.

I also spend an obscene amount of time waiting for my regrets to turn around, for that moment when my past failures are redeemed, and I keep on waiting, despite knowing how futile the attempt is…

Even in church, we wait for the congregation to get serious about God. We wait for people to rise up and serve. We wait for the lost sheep to return. We wait for the sermons to get better, the worship to help us touch God, the ministries to nurture and revive us. We wait for revival. We wait for personal revival and breakthrough. We even wait for Christ to come again.

Hahaha…

Makes me think of a song by Colin Hay that I heard in Scrubs, called “Waiting For My Real Life To Begin”.

Waiting For My Real Life To Begin
Any minute now, my ship is coming in
I'll keep checking the horizon
I'll stand on the bow, feel the waves come crashing
Come crashing down down down, on me
And you say, be still my love
Open up your heart
Let the light shine in
Don't you understand
I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

When I awoke today, suddenly nothing happened
But in my dreams, I slew the dragon
And down this beaten path, and up this cobbled lane
I'm walking in my old footsteps, once again
And you say, just be here now
Forget about the past
Your mask is wearing thin
Let me throw one more dice
I know that I can win
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

Any minute now, my ship is coming in
I'll keep checking the horizon
And I'll check my machine, there's sure to be that call
It's gonna happen soon, soon, soon
It's just that times are lean
And you say, be still my love
Open up your heart
Let the light shine in
Don't you understand
I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

On a clear day I can see
See a very long way

-Colin Hay

So my question for the day to all of you… what are YOU waiting for? Cos as for me, I think I don't know what I'm waiting for anymore. Its just become a way of life. 11 years after doing Samuel Beckett in St. Andrews JC, I've now officially joined the club of those Waiting For Godot.