Stuck in the waiting room of life

Stuck in the waiting room of life

Waiting is hard. I know that it is for me. We all have times in our life when we are suddenly waiting for direction. I think of this as a waiting room. You are just stuck there and it only becomes more frustrating as you see other people come and go while you just continue to wait for your name to be called. The time doesn’t have to be wasted. In fact, it can be a very productive time for you. Let’s look at a few things you can do while you wait.

 
Explore 


Take the time while you wait to explore around you. I don’t mean physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Remove the times and moments where you may feel stressed and replace them with personal deep dives into those three areas. It’s often like an unexplored cave. There is stuff there left waiting to be found if you are willing to go deep enough. These times have been extremely insightful when I’ve taken the time to do this. I’ve discovered that I wasn’t as passionate about an item or subject as I thought that I was, found new passions, discovered that the things that I would get hung up on actually were not that big of a deal, to begin with, and found new ways that I could love and serve others.

So what if you’ve done that and are still thirsting for direction and the next step? Get back in there and keep searching.  Several years ago, I felt was in the waiting room and spent a large amount of time exploring my own cave. What I found were multiple tunnels that were leading somewhere. One could be labeled poor employee experiences, another a loss of friends that I enjoyed working with, another the joy of seeing someone get a promotion among others. They all lead to a beautiful cavern that was called culture and people development. The piece was in me the whole time, I just had to put all the pieces together. Once I did I left the waiting room and was off on a new mission.

 
Have no regrets about the time before the wait


It would have been easy to look back at my time after the self-discovery of culture and people development and think that I had wasted a bunch of time beforehand. I certainly would have chosen a different degree in college and could have saved some people on their career path along the way. Don’t fall into this trap. Everything that you have done before today has to lead to this moment. It’s all valuable in some way.  Had I gotten a different degree, I wouldn’t have had the honor to serve all the leaders that I do. Even the hurtful things and regrets in our past have something to teach us. Don’t be ashamed of your story or what you missed. Use it to write that next great chapter in your life.

 
It could be a hint that something great is coming


Speaking of the next great thing, I have found that the waiting room is often a signal that something great is about to happen. Both of our children came out of times of being in the waiting room. My success as both an obstacle course racer and a runner came from times in the waiting room. I would never have thought that would have been me before entering those times. Hold true to these times of waiting. We don’t know the length of the wait but it can be time well spent.

The caterpillar must wait to become the butterfly. So should you use the time in the waiting room to transform into a better, rejuvenated, and focused you?

 
Make a better tomorrow. 
-ZH

 
*Listen to an expanded version of this topic including areas not discussed here in this podcast #118: Stuck in the waiting room

Patience

Patience

Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.

-Unknown. 

Patience. It’s the one thing people joke about to never ask for or pray for otherwise you are in for even more trouble! Some people wear impatience as a badge of honor, especially if it has to do with fixing a deficiency, issue, or problem. The problem with being impatient is that it can choke out development and cause you to overmanage parts of your life.

“Get out of the way and I can fix this!”


Ever been tested because someone is taking longer (significantly longer at times) to do something that you can do very quickly? The quick answer is to just move them out of the way and do it yourself. Besides, it’s more efficient at the moment. The long term is being sacrificed here for the short term. You weren’t always the master and lightning fast at some of the things you do really well. Patience with a moment or person gives them a chance to develop and grow. It also gives them a chance to contribute to the team and help take some load off of you. They very well may end up as a better expert at it than you are.  

“I’ve got Patience. I can win a staring contest with a sloth.”

You’ve got patience? Well, that’s great! Like all things in life, it’s got to be a balance. Too much patience can actually be a hindrance too. It can make you wait too long and miss opportunities. You may also let issues grow from lack of action. Keep mindful of the situation, the surrounding environment, and a sense of urgency when balancing your patience. You can have all the patience in the world when teaching CPR. The time to teach and have patience is not when you need to actually perform CPR.  Remember the balance and you’ll do well.

Patience is a virtue. Strike the balance to allow others to contribute, but be aware enough to know when to step in and execute.

Make a better tomorrow.
-ZH