I’m sitting in a little mountain cabin, in a place called Strawberry Hill. It’s a beautiful spot, with cool temperatures; which makes for a nice break from the thick, soupy heat of the rest of Bali. It’s surrounded by a lake, foggy mountains and (of course) strawberry fields.
I’m surrounded beauty; but I’ve just spent the last five minutes with a constant frown, feeling irritated and frustrated. Why? Because the wifi isn’t working.
I want to send an email; but as this place is high up in the mountains, the connection is unreliable. It keeps dropping in and out. And it’s driving me crazy. I’m in a picturesque setting, yet am totally obsessing over the internet. It’s ridiculous. But I know why I’m doing it.
Because I’m not used to waiting for things.
We live in crazy times, where we no longer have to wait for anything. Not too long ago, if we wanted to see a movie; we had to go to the cinema to watch it. Or even worse, wait until it was released on DVD. Now, we just click a few buttons and download it.
If our loved ones moved far away from us; we would look forward to hearing their voices via telephone calls. We would send them hand-written letters to let them know we missed them. Now, we just video chat them in real time, from half way across the world.
We had to wait a WHOLE WEEK for the next episode of our favourite TV shows - no matter how badly we wanted to know what happened. Now, we can watch a million episodes back-to-back; if we feel like Netflix bingeing.
Instead of dipping our toes in the dating game and meeting people face to face; we sit behind a screen and swipe left or right. We accept or discard people, based purely on what they look like in a photograph.
And here I sit, in a stunning wooden cabin; angry because the wifi isn’t fast enough.
We live in an age of instant gratification; always on the lookout for the ‘next thing’. We want everything faster, faster, faster - and NOW.
Everything is at our fingertips, but we’re caught in an endless loop of disappointed greed and impatience.
Things can be so much sweeter if we just take the time to wait for them. According to experts, anticipation is good for us. We need things to look forward to.
Postponing pleasure can be one of the best things we can do for ourselves.
It makes our brains produce dopamine, which in turn makes us feel joyful and excited. If we don’t take the time to long for something; we feel a sense of dissatisfied restlessness.
Did you know that people are happier looking forward to a holiday than during the actual holiday itself?
Here are some small ways that you can incorporate anticipation into your own life:
Postpone Pleasure
Next time you ‘just have to’ buy something, challenge yourself to postpone buying it for a week. You’ll probably tell yourself stories like “Someone else might buy it,” or “I might miss out”.
Ignore it, and focus on how great you’re going to feel when you finally go back and purchase the item.
Put Away that Phone/Camera
If you’re somewhere beautiful or amazing, and you feel like you ‘have’ to take a photo; stop and resist the urge. Immerse yourself in the experience you are having right now.
Really savour the sensations and beauty around you; instead of focusing on the desire to share it with others via social media.
Treat Yo Self
Schedule in an ‘event’ for yourself, each and every month. It could be a concert, coffee with a friend; or even just a couple of hours where you lock yourself away for an undisturbed soak in the bath with a face mask.
Pencil it onto your calendar, so that you have something to look forward to.
Dream
Pick a destination somewhere in the world that you would love to visit one day. Read all the novels and poetry you can about the place.
Watch films and read blogs that are about your dream destination. Dream, and think about what it will be like when you finally visit.
So, for now, I’m going to try to savour the wait.
Instead of sitting here, grumbling about the state of the internet; I’m going to turn all my devices off. I’m going to go for a walk around Strawberry Hill, and finish off this blog post later. Maybe while I’m on the walk I’ll see some pretty sights, or get some inspiration for future projects.
Who knows what might happen?…
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