The World Can Wait a Minute

Most mornings, the world is already waiting for us when we wake up. There are headlines to read, messages to answer, things we need to do, and people telling us about something we apparently need to know right now.

Some of it really does matter. There are people we care about, responsibilities we can’t ignore, and things happening in the world that deserve our attention.

But not everything needs our attention at the same time.

Sometimes the world can wait a minute, or long enough to finish a cup of coffee. It can wait for us to step outside and take a breath, or to hear the notes of a song instead of simply having music playing in the background. Or to think about someone we love.

These aren’t remarkable moments. Most of the time we probably don’t even remember them.

But lately I’ve been wondering what happens in those minutes of waiting, because a quiet moment isn’t necessarily empty.

Sometimes a thought wanders in that we weren’t expecting. Something we’ve been wrestling with suddenly looks a little different. We remember someone we haven’t talked with in a while. An idea appears without being invited.

Sometimes nothing that obvious happens at all. We simply notice that we’re feeling a little different when the moment is over. A little less hurried. A little more curious. More interested in the person who happens to be standing in front of us. More willing to follow a thought somewhere instead of immediately moving on to the next thing.

Maybe that’s what a little unclaimed space gives us: possibility. Not the kind we have to do anything with. Not another opportunity we’re supposed to seize. Just the possibility that something new can enter because, for the moment, we haven’t already filled every available inch.

I like that thought because so much of our day already has a purpose. We go somewhere because we need to be there. We call someone because there’s something to discuss. We open the computer because something needs to get done. Even our free time can somehow acquire a list. (How does THAT even work??)

But then there are those little moments that don’t belong to anything yet. A few minutes before we leave. A song we stop long enough to hear. Standing outside for no particular reason. Thinking about someone and smiling.

We don’t know what will come from those moments. Probably nothing dramatic.

But perhaps later that day we call the person we were thinking about. Maybe we walk into a conversation with a little more patience. We suddenly know how to begin something we’ve been putting off. Or we notice somebody we might otherwise have walked right past.

Something new becomes possible. Not because we worked at it, but because, for just a moment, we left a little room for it.

The world will still be there when we get back.

Sometimes it can wait a minute.

A Quiet Question

What might happen if I leave a little room in my day
for something I wasn’t expecting?