Life in my 20s has been all about waiting.
Waiting to graduate college, live independently, and find a career I love (still haven’t accomplished that one yet!).
Waiting to move home to Minnesota. Waiting to get married. Waiting to buy a house, get pregnant, have a baby once pregnant.
Waiting to get pregnant and have babies two more times. Waiting for the pandemic to be over. Waiting to move abroad. Waiting to move back. Waiting to buy another house. Waiting to save money before we travel. Waiting for our kids to get big enough to do x, y or z.
Waiting to meet our people here in the Twin Cities (we’ve met some, but still working on that, too).
And then there are the little waitings; waiting for Friday, waiting for date night, waiting for a home improvement or repair.
Sometimes it feels like all I ever do is wait. And being naturally impatient/don’t-stop-working-until-I-reach-the-finish-line, it’s not natural for me to pause and realize all of the wonderful things that happen while I’m waiting (because that feels like all the time).
Life is not one long race to the finish line, or it shouldn’t be. Sometimes it hits me squarely in the face how much good there is in my life every single day, and how many little moments there are to take note of and enjoy.
And then there is the anticipation of the future. I’m moreso someone who is naturally fearful of the future, but it doesn’t do me much good. You can prepare and be proactive within reason, but you can’t control anything by worrying.
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” Luke 12:25-31
When I’m feeling frustrated and unmotivated because of how much waiting is in front of me, I like to read some old favorite blogs and articles to inspire myself. My favorites are:
- Old Southern-In-Law posts from 2012 & 2013 (I just linked a random month here)–before her business took off and her then-fiance was able to move to Australia to get married. They went through a lot of stressful things, but I find her writing during those years to be very hopeful.
- Old Fiona Ferris blogs (again, I just linked her 2010 posts)–before she published any books and still co-owned a shoe store with her husband. Posts from 2010-2014. They were very thrifty, renting a house and working 7 days a week between the two of them. Yet she was still focused on self-improvement and enjoying the little things.
- My own posts, especially wedding ones–back from when we were engaged and life was very up in the air. Sometimes it helps give me perspective to think about how relatively little we had then, how I woke up at 4:30am every morning to go to work, how we were on a strict budget, how I was unsure if we would able to have a baby due to past health problems. But I romanticized the heck out of the life I had and enjoyed it nonetheless. I need to do that more these days!
I would high encourage you to check out the SIL and FF blogs if you need encouragement in waiting today. I love that they both had so many good things in store for them, and even though they weren’t there yet, they were cheerful and hopeful anyways.
I’m trying to remember that I’ll probably never stop waiting for something and I have to continue on with living well regardless. It’s the only way to have a good life! Maybe you need that reminder today, too? <3
xx Claire