By Priscilla Tanujaya, a sophomore music major from Jakarta, Indonesia
This week’s theme: Time to get a move on!
There is time to wait, and there is also time to move on.
Have you ever waited for an elevator for a long time? So long that you have to think about what you have to do because you are being chased by time to be somewhere?
A few years ago, my family moved to an apartment. The apartment there is very different from here. Most of them have 30-40 floors. Because of that, elevators are essential for everyone there. Most of the time, it came pretty quickly, so I did not have to wait for a long time. But also, sometimes I had to wait very long because many people use it. At that point, I often wondered whether I should wait for the elevator or move on and take another path.
Little things like this, we do not realize can happen anytime, anywhere and in any situation. Sometimes it can be very complex and more complicated than just waiting for an elevator.
When we feel our efforts and existence do not end at the outcome we want most, it’s only natural to wonder whether we should bother to take the same or different paths. Most of the time, when we ask this question, what we want to know is if things can get better.
The problem is, what is the best answer to the situation? Is moving on the best solution for every situation? What if waiting is the best answer to see if things get better? Sometimes, the very nature of the word “move on” makes us think of the end, defeat and loss, and it makes us unconsciously want to endure even more than face the frightening feeling of cessation and change. But actually, moving on can also make us free from feeling stuck, frustrated, annoyed, hopeless and anxious.
I believe that ‘wait’ and ‘move on’ can be applied in every different situation. There are always advantages and disadvantages to every decision. It is just a decision to follow more of your happiness, more of your balance, more of your real self, and to move on from what makes you hurt, make you feel frustrated, or things you can not change.
I could have been at a better ending if I waited for the elevator. But I could be in the same situation if I did not wait for the elevator, moved on and took another way.