Do you ever have those moments when you’re just not willing to wait anymore? Maybe you want a new car after you see a red Mercedes coupe blazing by you on the freeway. In a split second, you’ve convinced yourself it’s time to get rid of your paid-in-full, reliable means of transportation to pick up the car note you swore you’d never have again. Or, perhaps, it’s the latest pair of Christian Louboutin heels your favorite celeb is running around town in that is sparking your next splurge at the mall. And of course, I can’t leave out the die-hard romantic that has to meet, beat, and greet their deadline for marriage, baby, and the white picket fence all before the age of thirty. You may say I hate waiting and I always get what I want when I want it. But here’s the warning: while we certainly have free will to do whatever floats our boat, being impatient and unwilling to wait can create much more chaos than you ever bargained for.
For the record, there’s nothing wrong with having wants or desires, as long as they don’t become wacky, unhealthy obsessions that consume our every waking thought. But there’s something to be said for putting in the work, the very hard and necessary work, to develop the patience and maturity needed to maintain things we claim to want (or need) so badly.
Here’s my true confession lesson on learning to wait. I shop so much at the BCBG outlet to the point that I’ve become a “client.” The sales reps greet me by name, even know where I work, and “miss me” when I’ve been away from the store too long. Ridiculous, I know, but someone out there is saying “me too!” Anyway, I noticed a pattern develop while stalking a fabulous black winter coat for a couple of months. First, the coat was $450, eventually dropping to $250 after a couple of weeks on the rack. Another month passes and I’m shocked as the price went down to $175. By holding off from purchasing it at full price (especially when I have other priorities), I saved a ton of money. Although I wanted to, I didn’t buy it at first sight and learned a simple but powerful lesson: the more I’m willing to wait, the more I can save in the long run. Now, I could have easily been stubborn and inched my way to the register, but the outcome would have been ridiculous. Number one, my credit card bill would have been higher than necessary, taking much-needed money from my savings. And two, while I’d be cute on the outside, I’d be broke on the inside, since I wouldn’t have the extra money to take care of other needs that were much more important. What sense would it make for me to charge a coat on my credit card when my goal is to pay the balance off so I can pad my savings account? Now, I’m not saying I’m 100 percent cured of shopping on a whim, but you get my point.
