The Benefits of Waiting

“Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is ‘timing’ it waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way.” ~ Fulton J. Sheen

First off, waiting and anticipation are two completely different things. I’ve always loved anticipation. Waiting not so much.

When I’m anticipating an upcoming event, I enjoy visualizing what it will be like. I’ve never had a child, but I would imagine that the months leading up to the birth are full of lots of preparations and imaging what the new child will be like. Most of the time when I’m anticipating something, I’m not alone. The people I will visit, or who are visiting me, are also excited for the reunion, or we’re also looking forward to meeting that new little one. There are so many things we share as we look forward to the appointed time.

Waiting on the other hand can be tedious. It’s different than anticipation because the end time, or outcome is not defined and so my mind goes off on all kinds of tangents trying to “see” what’s ahead so I can relax. Of course that doesn’t work most of the time. The disastrous possibilities run rampant through my head.

About seven years ago, I got this premonition that we were going to move to New Mexico. When I told Barry about it, he was excited because, as pleasant as the weather and the people are here in Arizona, there are other situations that have been difficult for us. Not to mention there is something about the energy of this area where we live that is heavy. We want to live someplace less oppressive. I know that sounds cryptic but if you’re sensitive to the vibrations of a place, you will understand.

At first I thought that we would be moving in a year or two. Well, cosmic timing isn’t the same as human timing. I was getting quite impatient wondering when we were going to be able to go. The responsibilities we would like to let go of are wearing thin. The other day, however, another thought about waiting came to me. 

What if during this time of waiting, something profound is happening. What if I needed this time to build a community of like minded people who will read my books, blog posts and become fans of my podcast? What if the perfect person came along to take over my classes? What if the inner work that I needed to do wasn’t quite finished? And the same could be said for Barry. 

Now I think of waiting as active, or passive. Active waiting is very much like anticipation. If I’m practicing active waiting, I’m continuing to do my inner work, listen for guidance and visualizing what my new life will be like. 

Passive waiting, or maybe I could call it combative waiting, is when I complain to the Universe that what I want hasn’t shown up yet and I get angry about that. I forget to live in joy and notice the beauty in each moment when I’m complaining. I forget to have gratitude for the small and large blessings.

I don’t claim that waiting is easy for me. Many years ago I decided to quit teaching public school to become a writer. I was naïve and thought that everything would fall into place and I’d be making money from the books I wrote in no time. But, to round out my state retirement, I needed to work one more year. At first I got up every morning complaining in my head that I hadn’t had the courage to just quit and not commit to this one last year. But since I had an hour drive going and coming, I had lots of time to think about my situation and soon I realized that I could choose to be miserable, which would make everyone around me miserable. Or I could enjoy my students and colleagues for one last school year. I chose joy.

I get to choose that again. I know that one day we’ll make the move. But there must be things I’m still meant to do here while I wait and that’s finally okay with me.

Welcome new followers. Thank you to those who listened to my conversation with Pam Grout, episode 21 of Story~Power. It was one of the best days for visits to my website. I appreciate your likes and comments.

Have a blessed week ahead.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2021

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.

Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.

The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.

Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a new podcast where she and her guests discuss the stories in all formats that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.