Empowered in the WAITING

We live in such fast world now and the word “waiting” is beginning to sound alien to many. We want what we want, and we want it now. Social media isn’t even making things better with all that we are bombarded with daily. People never talk so much about their grind and grit or the bts of their journey, but we see posts that shows a lot of balling it out and luxurious lavish living. Giving off the impression that this sort of life was achieved overnight.

This is not to say that people need to explain how long they’ve had to wait or what they’ve had to endure to get what they have. But there should be an unspoken caveat for everyone scrolling through social media posts and feeds that reads “it’s OK to scroll and enjoy this posts but it’s not OK to compare your real life with someone else’s highlight reels that never tells a complete story”. Having this at the back of your mind will guard your heart against comparison that robs you of joy while you are in your waiting season.

The waiting process for anything in this life can be a lot whether it’s us waiting on the right partner, to get a job or change jobs, to get a promotion or to have a baby. Waiting requires patience and trust that there is a process to everything and there is capacity building going on in our lives preparing us to be able to handle what we say we deserve.

While we wait on our greenlight, to ensure that we are waiting well and building ourselves in the process there are a few things to consider on this journey of purposeful waiting:

Gratitude: we can complain from now till the end of ages about how nothing is working in our life or we can switch it up and take a long hard look at our life and show gratitude for those things that are working. Gratitude fills us with peace and centers us in ways that complaining never will. With gratitude our heart becomes open and readily able to see possibilities and potential opportunities. Cultivating a heart of gratitude when nothing is working will take a lot of practice. Every day make up your mind to look for one thing to be grateful about and write it down. This would become your pick me up on days when it’s really hard to see anything to be grateful for. You can create for yourself a gratitude jar or journal for this activity. If you can’t see an open door, make up your mind to praise God in the hallway.

Be open minded: while you wait don’t assume that you’ve seen it all and you know it all. This is the time to learn new things to broaden your perspective. This is your time to network with different people. We only get results based on our level of revelation and exposure. There are some ideas for your progress that will not come if you are not open minded enough to meet people and face situations that will challenge your old ways of thinking. Somebody you meet, an article you read or a training you attend while in your waiting can equip you with the answers you’ve been looking for to solve some problems you are facing. Don’t do yourself a disservice by holding on to your own point of view alone.

Don’t rush the process: While you may be itching to get out of a job or find the right partner or get that promotion don’t rush the process. If a door isn’t open yet there is every possibility that what you need to dominate your next level, you have not yet unlocked on this level. Give yourself time and be patient in whatever season you are in. Don’t get so upset or have your ego so bruised because of what is not working out that you settle for less than you deserve.

Waiting can be hard but if there is anything I know so well, it is that all good things will eventually come and in time you will understand that there was purpose in the waiting.

Don’t give up hang in there and know that I’m part of the people in your corner rooting for your success.