Ahhh, the soul nourishing, character building and experience developing outcome of waiting. Love it or hate it, the best or most enriching path is to embrace it.
It's the how you embrace the waiting that will determine your outcome. Does waiting make you anxious? Angry? Frustrated? Or do you look at the waiting as preparation of your desired outcome, a welcomed pause and opportunity to catch your breath and recoup? I guess your response would or could be to ask..."It depends on how long we're talking?!?!!"
Think about the exhilarating, anxiety-filled and nerve-building (or squelching) anticipation of waiting in line for a roller coaster...or an runner in the starting blocks...or the walk down the aisle (to your awaiting groom)...or the night before the first day of school...or the drive to the hospital to deliver (or receive) your long-awaited bundle of joy. Whatever your anticipated destination, the wait is filled with many emotions, feelings, and thoughts; positive and negative.
Do you abide by a 'glass half full' or 'half empty' mentality? Interestingly, when I searched for synonyms for 'anticipation,' 'wait' was one of the selections (yea! Confirmation that I am heading down the right rabbit hole!), however, then I looked for synonyms for 'wait' and most of the selections were mixed in positive and negative connotation: halt/hold, time wasted/rest, downtime/interim, pause/delay. 'Hold,' 'rest,' 'pause' and 'interim' all resonated with me more than the others; proving that my lens is changing from dread to embrace with regard to waiting.
What initiated this shift in perspective was when I shared with a publishing rep that I had an idea for a book but I had to wait until I had a baby, because I thought that was when I would have arrived at the book's premise, scope or purpose. She responded with "Why do you have to wait?" And I seriously, in that moment, I thought I heard harps playing and a light bulb appeared above my head. That is when the book truly took form and the chapters started formulating, almost on their own. Through countless hours, days and years of waiting for a variety of "when" items ("When I get (a)...married, baby, job, degree, lose weight..." and the list goes on and on), I have run the gamut of emotions. It was in that simple, almost obvious question that my, and the book's trajectory, changed.
So, consider this post a prelude, per se, as to what is to come. In the meantime, all the best to you in your wait.
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