Why do we have to wait for a cure? Why do we have to wait for the weekend? Why do we have to wait until we are older? Why do we have to wait for an answer? Why do we have to wait when we all know that waiting is the hardest part? Why can’t we just have it, whatever it is, right now?
Reason one – waiting reveals the possibility of hope. It is only in the waiting that we will ever realize possibility. With possibility brings hope. There is no hope in getting, there is only hope in waiting on the possibility. Possibility is the stuff of this life because it ushers in hope. The possibility of a cure. The possibility of the weekend. The possibility of what you can accomplish when you get older. The possibility of what might be found in an answer. Without possibility we are resigned to a life of what is, because there is no hope. With hope the sky isn’t even the limit, for all things are possible. Take away possibility and you take away life because there will be no hope. For it is only through possibility that any of us ever get out of bed in the morning. It is only through possibility that we stretch and strive and grow to become more today than we experienced yesterday. It is only through possibility that we find hope.
Reason two – waiting requires you to live inside out. Who will you be? What will tomorrow bring? What is your perspective on life? It might seem like some people have had life handed to them. Yet, in all people, life happens not only to them, but because of them. The lives of the people you hold in highest regard are lives that have been developed from the inside out. What might seem to be an overnight success, upon closer inspection, will be revealed as a life-long journey of self-discovery through waiting. What you and I see in the lives of others is simply the tip of the iceberg of a person who is good at waiting into their possibility. Life will only happen to you, not because of you, if you let it. The only thing that you can control in this life is your actions. Your actions don’t come from the outside in, they come from the inside out. If you want to know what someone believes, simply walk with them and watch what they do. Your doing will always reveal your being. If you want to transform your being, if you want to live from the inside out, you must get good at waiting.
Reason three – waiting requires an acknowledgement of your emptiness. Until you admit that you are empty, that you need something, you will never be filled. If you are never filled, you are resigned to live an empty life. This emptiness will destroy you from the inside out and will rob you of any possibility of hope in your life. The first step in making sure this doesn’t describe you and your life, is to admit that you are empty. When you acknowledge your emptiness you are signaling to your very self that you need something more. This is when the searching begins. You will never search for something you don’t know you need. Searching for what will fill your emptiness will take time, which will require you to get good at waiting. Only in the waiting will you truly find that which will fill your emptiness. Waiting will give you the possibility of living into truth, for to wait means that you don’t simply latch onto the first thing that comes down the pike. You will wait for what is true, what is just and what is right.
Reason four – waiting invites you to live in the world, not of the world. The world doesn’t like to wait. The world teaches immediate gratification. The world teaches a “Get it now and pay for it later” perspective. If you want to avoid over eating, wait after you are done with a meal before you get seconds. Why? Because your initial desire to eat more might not be your body’s need for nutrition, but your minds need for a fix. If you want to make sure you don’t say anything you will regret, wait before you send that text or respond to that tweet. Why? Because your initial desire to say something might not be your body’s need to respond, but your mind’s need to lash out in anger. None of us can avoid living in the world, but waiting allows all of us to avoid living of the world. The world will eat until it gets sick. The world will say whatever comes to mind, whenever it comes to mind, regardless of the consequences. Waiting allows you to live in a new way. You will live in the world, but you won’t live of the world.
Waiting isn’t passive. It isn’t the absence of action and allowing life to happen to you. Waiting is active; it is an action that you take in your life in order to mold, shape, design and invigorate your life. Waiting is the possibility of filling your emptiness with the hope of living inside out while you are in this world. This is truly why waiting is the hardest part. For to wait requires a great deal of effort!