Pema Chodron is an inspiration for me both in my personal life and also in my counselling practice.  Buddhist practices are often relevant to my clients who are facing health and medical crises.  These experiences entail a great deal of waiting… such as waiting for appointments, tests, and results.  My clients speak of the significant distress they go through while all this waiting is taking place.

Very often, these challenges are related to the uncertainty surrounding the situation.  Once we have information, we are able to use that information to create a plan of action and feel some sense of control and purpose.  However, as we wait for information, that uncertainty can be quite painful.  Our minds naturally try to “think” our way out of the unknown despite the fruitlessness of the pursuit.  Our wheels spin as we explore worst and best case scenarios and begin to imagine that we have answers that don’t yet exist.

Meditation and mindfulness are effective tools for many people to use in these situations.  The mindful quality of compassionate moment-by-moment awareness moves us away from the contemplation of a future that has not yet arrived. Staying in the present moment allows us to experience our lives more fully even in the times of waiting.  This can be an important practice to sustain us through the difficult times.