While You Wait

I know I talk lot about finding your purpose, discovering the impact you were born to make and following your passion if it's the last thing you do. And, believe me, I mean every word, but what I haven't spent much time writing about is the process of discovering yourself and how long it can sometimes take.

Over the last twelve months, I’ve been learning an awful lot about patience.

I spent a pretty big chunk of last year focusing on where I thought I should be rather than where I was. I was constantly freaking out. My business should be making more money, I should have launched a speaking tour and re-written my e-book by now, I should be blogging and filming videos AT LEAST once a week. It literally kept me up at night, UNTIL I realised by stressing about where I should be, I was missing out on where I was.

Maybe you’re halfway through a Uni degree you love but have no idea what you want to do with it. Maybe you’re waiting tables and taking art classes at night, certain only about how good it feels to have a brush in your hand. Are you getting anxious and stressed and complaining you have no idea what you're doing with your life? Are you trying to manipulate others out of fear of not getting what you want? Are you learning how to use everything you’re going through, or are you suffering through your trials and refusing to receive the message? Can you relax a little more in the knowledge everything is unfolding as it should and that, as long as you’re engaged in something you love, you’re on the right path?

There are forces at work beyond your comprehension — a plan for your life that involves a journey through different seasons, each one with new lessons to learn and blessings to discover. Just as important as what you discover at the end, is what you learn along the way. The time spent learning, researching, planning, dreaming and building your skill is all part of it and every obstacle and circumstance is an opportunity to get to know yourself and refine your work.

Seek out the circumstances in which your passions and talents reveal themselves — go to workshops, volunteer, getting work experience in an industry that interests you. Fight for the time you need to do the things you love as well as you can, be kind and pay attention to the revelations. Stay in your own lane (quit comparing your journey to everyone else’s) and open up to Life.

Like any journey, the process of self-actualisation is fraught with challeges and unexpected detours. The path isn’t linear.

You won't have your 'aha' moments a second sooner or later than you're meant to. Until then, revel in uncertainty. I know it can be scary, but it’s also one hundred percent necessary. When your time to shine comes, you’ll be thanking every God there is you took the time you needed to figure out what you want, train, heal, build, learn and develop and refine your gifts.

Dear God,

I know this season of waiting plays an essential part in my story - I know you are using this time to build in me a hunger, ambition and drive that will serve me later in my career, relationships and inner world and enable me to succeed at a level greater than I can even imagine right now. I thank you so much for this time of character building, cultivating patience and faithfulness in my spirit. I commit to giving my all to what’s right in front of me and stop questioning its place and purpose in my life story. I will walk by faith.