Some weeks ago, I shared a post on my Instagram account which reads:

At the time, I thought I was simply writing a personal mantra to set the tone for my 2021 mindset. However, it later occurred me that what I was really finding my way towards was a personal definition of what it means to wait well.

None of us - no matter how well-resourced we are - has all that we want, all the time. Life is like a fluid series of Venn diagrams overlapping across experiences and relationships that are waiting to happen, have started happening or have already happened. These states of transition all include an element of waiting. Waiting for a promotion, to achieve financial security, to gain residency in foreign lands, to start a family, to pursue an alternative lifestyle, or even waiting for one situation to end to make space for something new….The list is endless and as varied as the number of people on this planet. 

The verb “wait” is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “to stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or event.” Such a simple verb can prove so difficult to execute in an action and results-oriented culture! The more change I experience in my life, the more I have come to embrace that waiting is not as passive as it seems. Moreover, it’s not enough to simply wait, one should wait well.

Having invested some sort of effort, oftentimes we must wait before that effort brings about its desired outcome if our success hinges on external actors or factors making their contribution to that process. However, while physical action might go on pause, we all know our minds tend to run rampant with all sorts of emotions that turn waiting into either joyful expectation or miserable anxiety. Positive mind control is what turns waiting into a truly active process that gets elevated to waiting well. 

Waiting well is about being:

Patient

Hopeful

Expectant

Purposeful

At peace

Proactive

Abundance-oriented  

The opposite of the above - being anxious, frustrated, dejected, aimless or feeling stuck - can turn waiting into personal anguish. Although I know better, in practice I have areas of my life where I wait well and others where I don’t, and this can happen at the same time!

I have to consciously change my mind about the negative spots because there are naturally some things I feel more confident about than others. Having a majority of areas where I wait well gets me really motivated to tackle the laggards either through a change of perspective (same goal, different mindset), change of direction (new goal, different mindset) or to drop them altogether if I’m expecting results from a hopeless situation.

This mental tweaking helps to make the journey just as enjoyable as the destination, and to find joy even if the destination is never reached. Life being what it is, we don’t always get what we want but that shouldn’t preclude positive experiences and a positive disposition. Contentment shouldn't wait. The heightened uncertainty we’re all living under reminds us to seek that opportunity in every moment.

I hope this nudges you to think about what your own approach is to waiting well. Earlier in this article I shared mine, and it’s been keeping me encouraged and focused so far! In which areas of your life could you benefit from using transition periods in an energising and motivating way? How can you be more of you and go further in that discovery as you do so?