Leaning into Waiting

              When I was little, every Christmas Eve, I’d sit in my bed waiting: not for bells or Santa shuffles around the house, but the bang of the staple gun that let me know my parents were plastering the living room entryway with wrapping paper like the whole room was a gift waiting to be opened. The waiting added to the excitement of Christmas, the suspense until we were allowed to break through the wrapping paper wall.

              But somewhere along the lines, the wait for moments stops being joyful. Life slowly slips from being so full that you don’t really think about moments like Christmas until they start sneaking up on you, and it turns into a waiting game. We start waiting for school to start, for summer, for high school, to turn sixteen, to get a driver’s license, a college acceptance letter, a ring, the day everyone says will be the best of your life, the job, the house, the weekend, the vacation, the two pink lines, the baby’s arrival, the newborn stage ending, the promotion, retirement. The list goes on.

              It’s so easy to get caught up in the what comes next mindset and to start waiting on the moments that are supposed to be life-defining that we start to overlook all the moments in between where we grow and live and become. Vacations are amazing, but how quickly do we move past them when we return to our regular schedules and lose sight of that feeling we had while we were away? We desperately want to finish college, because it’s hard but five years later, you’ll be joking with the friends you made there about late-night cram sessions, 2am trips to fast food restaurants, and inside jokes that could only be made at that time. The wedding day is incredible, but so is the sweet engagement season and watching all the little ways people around you show how much they love you, if you watch for them.

              Milestones are great, there’s a reason we celebrate them, but so much of who we are is formed in the seasons of waiting and what we choose to do with that time. Do we lean into joy and look for those little moments of magic created by doing life with the chosen people around us? Or do we focus on where we are wanting to be and commiserate on not being there yet? There will always be something on the horizon that we’re waiting for or desire, the secret is learning to be content and joyful in the season that we’re in until the next one arrives. Sometimes that’s easy, and sometimes it’s a daily habit of reminding yourself to find the magic in the every day little day things happening all around you.

              Make the most of the season that you’re in. You don’t get any do—overs.

Cheering you on from the sidelines,

SB