A watched pot never boils.

For anyone that has ever cooked pasta when they are REALLY hungry, you know this to be true. Even when you make sure to fill the pot with water that is already warm and add a pinch of salt in hopes of facilitating those elusive rolling bubbles, the longer you stare at it, the louder that second hand seems to tick. In those 5-10 minutes that stubborn piece of stainless steel takes to reach the desired temperature, you feel like an entire chapter in a history book stands between you and your marinara-coated dinner.

Isn't it funny though, how much faster that water seems to boil when you step away and watch some tv or strum a few chords on the guitar or try on those fabulous (yet extremely painful) shoes you just got for a killer price? It seems like time just sails by. In those minutes you weren't sending all of your will power onto that stove hoping that water might boil faster, and you weren't salivating about the meal that would soon fill that empty bowl already set out on the table. Because you stepped away and did something different, it seemed more like a fleeting moment than an eternity.

Yes, I agree - that description of the preparation of pasta is a bit dramatic. But don't act like you haven't been there. And even if you aren't a pasta eater (which if you aren't, please jump on the next flight to Italy) I can guarantee that you've been there in life - staring at that water, hugging your knees, wishing it would just boil already and making yourself miserable by only thinking about the outcome and not the present, precious moment.

There are many situations where this happens, most notably this "water watching" occurs when it comes to looking for a romantic relationship. Most of us who are single spend a lot of time , dreaming of that faceless, nameless person, wondering about who they might be and wishing beyond all wishes that they could be brought into existence by sheer willpower. Unfortunately, life doesn't always listen to us.

In fact, most of the time it ignores us. The things we pine over are often not ours until we stop worrying about them and move on to focusing on the things we can control. When we truly, really, so-SO-badly want something that it hurts, the best thing to do is to wrap it in a dust cover, put it up on a shelf and replace it with something else that isn't quite as old, worn out and overused.

Walk away from that stove (it was getting a little too warm over there anyway) and ignite yourself. View that unemployment not as a failure, but as an opportunity to train for a 5K like you've always wanted to. View your relationship status not as "single" but as the freedom to meet as many people (and have as much fun) as humanly possible. View missing your friends not as sad and lonely but as a great way to build relationships with the people who are close to you now (and by remembering that "distance" is only a physical thing).

Whatever you do, STOP watching that water. It isn't going to boil any faster with you staring at it. I guarantee you that the second you step away it will seem like no time at all before that first bubble reaches the surface.

♥mb.