Do you ever feel like you are always waiting? Waiting on your breakfast to heat up or your coffee to be done. Waiting on your spouse to get ready so you can leave. Waiting in traffic to get to your destination. Waiting on your food at a restaurant. Waiting for something to arrive that you ordered. Waiting for the promotion. Waiting to be done with school. Waiting to find the right job. Waiting for the perfect spouse. We are always waiting. I've also heard people in my life say that they are in a "waiting" period. They are waiting on the perfect job, they are waiting to get married, or they are waiting to move on after a breakup to get right with themselves again. There is so much of our lives we spend waiting. But, what if the perspective wasn't I have to sit here and wait? What if waiting was part of the process in our life. What if we looked at the times we are waiting, not as something negative or something wasting time in our life, but as something exciting and positive. What if waiting was just part of the process. What if waiting was an opportunity.
In my car there is a dashboard that shows how much time the car has been on since my last fill up with gas. Sometimes that dashboard will show that I have been in the car driving for 9,10,11 hours between fill-ups. I started thinking about my use of time in the car and it kind of bothered me. I enjoy listening to music while driving, but it's not always the healthiest of music or it's not adding much to my soul. Am I really just sitting there consuming hours of music a week while driving with no positive advancement in my life except for sitting in traffic and getting from point A to B.
This challenged me to consider being more intentional with my times of waiting. I have begun thinking about how I could have the latest TED talk or podcast cued up and ready for my drive to work in the morning or on the way home in the afternoon. Could I start listening to the Bible in the morning while my breakfast and coffee are being prepared. While waiting at a restaurant for my food to be ready could I be intentional about having a life giving conversation with my wife instead of just sitting there on our phones. Instead of looking at my career as some ladder I have to climb or promotion I have to wait for, what if I just broadened my influence where I am right now, or what if I tried to better myself or learn something from the season I am in currently.
What can you do? I'm no longer waiting. I'm in process, with a whole lot of opportunities at my finger tips.
