The waiting place- this is my least favorite place. I really struggle with feeling stagnant, and to me, that is what the waiting place is: a place of stagnation. One thing I have learned is that the waiting place is a state of mind and that we never have to be there if we don’t want to be. If we have the right focus, we can learn that the waiting place does not exist. By this I mean I don’t believe we are ever truly standing still; we just don’t always have our focus where it should be. There are plenty of sayings and conference talks about how we need to always be moving forward, and I want to talk about one way that I have found to always be moving forward.
I have lots of goals, but I have two that are really important to me, they are get married and have a family and get my PhD. Now I am doing all I can to get married. I put myself out there; I talk with people; I am doing everything I have felt inspired to do. If I sit and focus on how this goal is not moving forward, I feel like I am in the waiting place. But if I step back and focus on my other goals, I see that I am moving forward. Here is a little analogy that will explain it more. I call it my DMV vs. Airport analogy.
Life was not made to be the DMV waiting room, but an airport or a road trip; it is constant movement as long as we are willing to work towards our goals. When we treat life like a DMV, we are picking a number and then just sitting there, on our phones, until our name is called. Now, that is not to say that sometimes we don’t have to sit and wait. I have sat and waited at many an airport, but I am much happier at the airport than I am at the DMV.
There is plenty of sitting and waiting in airports. We sit and wait to board the plane, then we wait for others to board, before waiting for takeoff. Sometimes there is even a flight delay, but it is a much happier place to wait, as we know we are going somewhere. We have a goal in mind and something we are working towards. Having more than one goal can make a waiting place a temporary pit stop instead of a place to just sit and wait.
If I treat waiting like the DMV, I hate it. I feel miserable and like I am lacking something. If I treat waiting like an airport, I find joy, and I no longer dread the waiting place because I have things I am working towards. I am constantly moving. My sorrows don’t seem so big because I am able to focus on the many parts of God’s plan for me and not on just one part. Some of the goals I have in life are getting married, having a family, getting my PhD, writing a book, being a missionary, learning to play guitar, and more. If I focused all of my energy on just one of these goals, I might find myself feeling stagnant if it wasn’t happening in my time frame. Luckily, I have never been asked to only focus on one goal, and I have been given many desires and dreams to work towards in this life, so that I don’t have to be stuck.
You are not alone in the waiting place, my friend, and there is so much more out there for you than waiting. If you don’t know what it is, pray about it. Pick up a random hobby; learn a new skill. I promise there is more out there for you than you know. Find your airport, and you can go from feeling like you are waiting at the DMV to waiting for a flight to a new destination to explore. That being said, don’t forget that President Oaks said (2023) “Consider what young adult Latter-day Saints miss when their marriages are intentionally delayed for a significant period: opportunities lost and blessings postponed.” (D. Oaks, 2023). Yes, we need to have goals outside of marriage and dating, but that does not mean we stop dating. We need to be open and prepared for the many blessings the Lord desires to give us as we listen to the Holy Spirit and follow Him. I know that as we do these things, we will find more happiness in what we used to consider a waiting place.
Refrence
Oaks, Dallin H., and Kristen M. Oaks. "Stand for Truth." May 2023 Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 21 May 2023, www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/broadcasts/worldwide-devotional-for-young-adults/2023/05/11oaks?lang=eng.
