Godoting

It was insufferable.

This is how I felt in my 11th grade English class reading Waiting for Godot. One of the most acclaimed plays in the 20th century, was about a man that never shows up. It’s like the Seinfeld of plays—beloved, overrated, and about nothing. If it was written today, it would be called Ghosted.

Our teacher explained the fact that Godot never shows up is the entire point. The play explores existential themes and makes a poignant comment on the absurdity of life. “What do we live for?” The play begs us to ask ourselves. I, for one, could live without having to read or watch it ever again.

Waiting for Godot came to my mind as I was trying to put words around an epiphany I had. I’ve been thinking about hope and prayer lately, and realized how often we fall in the trap of misdirected optimism. It’s waiting for something meaningful to happen and feeling optimistic about the likelihood of that happening. 

It reminded me of how exasperated I became observing the main characters wasting their time pondering what they could do while they waited. They even thought about hanging themselves as a way to kill time. Could you imagine suggesting this to your friends while you wait for takeout to arrive? 

I took their waiting day after day as implied hope. Their hope was misguided. It was directed at something they could not control, and the actions they did take were still within the context of waiting and hoping.

That’s what Godoting is: Optimism misplaced in a manner that obscures whatever agency you have over the circumstances. 

As one of the world’s foremost experts in Godoting, I’m pretty good at identifying it when I see it. It’s a soothing passiveness–it is not perceived as laziness because the act of hoping does signal some sort of yearning and ambition. You aspire for something to happen.

What does Godoting look like? It’s hoping for a change in your career, but not updating your resume. It looks like yearning to land that customer/investor, but never reaching out. 

I found myself Godoting recently. I’ve spent weeks debating whether I should email a contact to a company that I would like to sell into. I would send emails to other folks in the organization that don’t know me, researching as much as I can about the company, and waiting until eventually, they would reach out to me. Once I became aware of how absurd it was for me to expect an email, I realized that my hope was centered on an event I had no control over. I was waiting for an email that would never come, in the same manner people were waiting for Godot. So, I sent the damn email. I got a response. 

What’s the antidote to Godoting? Redirecting our hope. Our optimism should be not about the situation we want to happen, but rather our ability to handle whatever situation comes our way.

Optimism is positive energy. It’s a superpower. But you have to direct it. Green Lantern was given his ring to protect the galaxy, not to use as a flashlight to find his keys. Think about optimism as your own ring. In the brightest day, in the blackest night, know that it will be your light, so long as you shine a light on you. We are the best thing we can hope for and bet on. 

What are you Godoting for?

Note: Godoting is pronounced with a silent “t” because the pronunciation has to be as insufferable as the play.