blog

As the sort of person who has to constantly be doing something, I find it discouraging to be sit around and wait. And while it seems that I have had a fair share of waiting over the past couple of years, I have been able to learn much while I am waiting. That does not make it any easier, but I have definitely had plenty of opportunities to think about waiting, while I wait.

I usually tend to have a somewhat easygoing demeanor. True, when there is something to be done, I am generally quick to become involved in the situation, but I also realize that situations seldom go perfectly according to plan. As a result, patience is required to get through such frustrating situations. Growing up, I developed a reasonably decent handle on this sort of patience. However, when it came to the direction my life was headed, especially when I was not settling major questions nearly as quickly as I would have liked, I had to learn more and more about patience. And patience learned by experience can be frustrating.

In matters ranging from where I would work after graduation to which apartment I should rent, there have been multiple situations that have weighed heavily upon me. But through it all, I have been reminded that it will work out, so long as I continue to research and plan the elements that I do have control over, and to wait for the appropriate time and opportunities as they occur. I have been blessed so far to be able to look back on how situations have played out, and to realize that my reluctant trust has been well-founded, especially as situations have often worked out so much better than I originally envisioned.

One of the biggest temptations I have found in such circumstances is to just give up, or, almost as dangerously, to jump to a premature conclusion. So what can we do in such cases, especially for those of us who cannot get things off of our minds? I have found that research keeps my mind occupied for a time, after which I may need to move on to another project to further occupy my attention. Even while artificially distracting myself, I still cannot help but maintain an awareness of potential developments, which keeps me ready to jump when given a direction. Unfortunately, it is so much easier to become lazy and generally more interested in entertainment in these cases than to switch to a productive project. This is something I have struggled with, especially now that a full day’s work wears me out each day, causing me to not want to do anything else productive.

Patience is something that I constantly strive to become better at. That may sound contradictory, but I constantly have to remind myself that everything will work out in the end. Until a situation is resolved, I can continue to exercise my analytical thinking to a point, after which I should redirect my anxious energy toward other worthy endeavors.