Some Thoughts About Waiting

If nothing else, I think everyone here can agree that 2020 has been one heck of a year so far. It has been so difficult in so many unexpected ways for so many people, and it’s not over yet.  Everywhere I turn, I see people talking about what a horrible year it’s been, and how they can’t wait for it to be over so they can get going with their lives again.

Hey, I get it. I do. I’ve felt that way, too–especially as I wrestled with some stressful personal challenges on top of all of the world challenges. Can’t this year just be over already?

But here’s the thing – this big old universe of ours doesn’t give a damn that people think 2020 ends on December 31 and 2021 begins on January 1st. The world doesn’t care about no stinking arbitrary divisions of time. All of the problems we are facing today are not going to magically disappear at midnight on December 31st. They will all probably still be with us, with some new ones added for good measure.

Sorry.

In other words, there’s no point in waiting for the year to end before you begin. It’s a waste of time to wait to live your life until there aren’t any more problems, or until things are “settled” again. We can’t wait to live simply because this happens to be a difficult time in our history where things are changing at the speed of light. We can’t postpone living our lives just because everything and everyone is in upheaval.  We just have to find a way to move forward in spite of it all.

I’m talking to myself here.

I’ve been thinking about this because I’ve been having a lot of trouble finding my creative mojo these past few months. A LOT of trouble. Shocking, I know. It’s hard to be creative when everything around you is in such a state of flux. I keep telling myself that I’ll finish my book once things have calmed down. I keep postponing other things I want to work on because those goals seem stupid when there are so many problems in the world that are much more important than anything I might produce. I tell myself that the timing is bad. I tell myself to wait.

I am wrong.

I might think that I should wait because the sand under my feet is constantly shifting. I might think I should wait until things are stable again. I might say the timing is bad now, that it’s not a good moment for me. I might tell myself that I need to wait until life has gone back to what passes for normal before I move forward.

I am wrong.

The truth is, there will never be a problem-free time, in our world or in our lives. This year is particularly stressful for a large number of people, but things are happening all the time, whether we acknowledge them or not. That’s just the way it goes. There is always some kind of upheaval.  The sands are always shifting. We may not notice, but there is always change and movement. That is reality.

If I look for a reason to wait, I will always be able to find one. And if I always wait, I will never move.

The fact is, no matter what’s going on in our society, time flows. Time does not stop just because we do. And our time is finite. And our time is precious. And you can never get that time back. You may not want to celebrate your birthday this year, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen anyway.

The reason I write is because doing it makes me a better person. Yes, I want other people to read what I’ve written, but the main value in it for me is the act of creation itself. It is in the DOING of it.

That means NOT moving forward diminishes me. So by spending the past six or seven months waiting for the world to settle, waiting for the time to be right, I have made myself smaller. I have boxed myself in. Me living in a constant holding pattern adds nothing to me, and it doesn’t benefit anybody else either. Living in suspended animation only causes atrophy.

So I’m going to put my head down, turn off the news and social media, and take that step forward without worrying about the timing. I invite you to join me. I know that it’s still 2020, but let’s not wait any more. Let’s just get on out there and go do it. Let’s live our best, most creative, beautiful, wonderful lives today.

 

PS – Just because this song has been in my head all day, here’s a video of Pentatonix singing their cover of “Can’t Hold Us.”

PPS – If you don’t know Pentatonix…. What?!? Where have you been? And, just FYI, they’re an a cappella group. Although you’d never know it from listening to them.

PPPS – They’re so young in this video! Look at the babies!

 

 

 

 

Comments

  1. This is excellent advice. I’ll work on it. Keep on rocking out, B lady! You got this. (Superb song choice!)

    • Betsy Horvath says

      It has really been a year, hasn’t it?? I’m just trying to put one foot in front of the other… inch by inch… 🙂

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