Today marks the first Sunday of Advent, a season in the church calendar set aside for preparing and waiting for Christmas. It’s rare that we have time specifically devoted to waiting. Oftentimes waiting can feel like the necessary evil we have to go through to get to what we really want, which is reaching our destination and completing our goal. And while we want to be focused on our There, waiting is an essential part of the journey that we should not overlook.
The Project Mood Curve
When traveling on the Project Mood Curve, you will inevitably come to the Pit. We usually describe the Pit as a place of reckoning, where you have to decide if this project is aligned with your goals and worth persevering through, or if it would be better to turn around and start over again. But the Pit could also be described as a place of waiting.
You don’t only encounter internal road blocks like motivation or perseverance while in the Pit. You might also encounter external obstacles out of your control that force you to wait before you can move on to the next step.
Three Things You Can Control
Keep in mind the three things you can control:
- Your attitude and perspective
- Your actions and choices
- Whom you trust
You cannot control someone else’s actions. You cannot control how long it will take for a project to get approved. And you cannot ultimately control how fast a task will go. You can control your own actions and move with efficiency for your part. But once you’ve done that, you might simply have to wait.
Getting There
Fast is not always the best way to get somewhere. When we are focused on our goals and getting There, it can be tempting to put blinders on and just focus on reaching the end as fast as you can. But oftentimes, the slow and deliberate path is the best one.
In the next post, we will discuss ways that you can wait well. But for now, when you are tempted to rush ahead, remember that we wait for a reason and be open to what realizations you might have in the in-between time.
Gracie McBride is the Content and Systems Coordinator at The Crossroad.
