What’s your experience of waiting?

When I was in college, a friend gifted me with a drawing of an I-Ching symbol she had thrown/drawn for me. “Oh, thank you!” I said. Then she handed it to me, and my smile froze. The word that was supposed to characterize me, or my experience, was “waiting.” I hoped she was wrong.

Here is what waiting meant to me: It meant that I wasn’t in the right place at the right time. It meant that what I had to offer wasn’t good enough to be chosen first. It meant that someone else took precedence over me.

Do you have a similar feeling about waiting? If so, it’s time to redefine your experience.

Recently, I had my Human Design analysis done. Human Design is a very particular art that gives you an extraordinary amount of information about yourself through your name, date, time, and place of birth. I imagine it to be a combination of astrology and numerology, but I don’t know for sure. I only know it’s complex. If you are interested in getting your basic chart for free, here’s one place you can do it: https://www.humandesignamerica.com/ (just google Human Design for other choices)

There are 5 Human Design “types:” Manifestor, Generator, Manifesting Generator, Projector, and Reflector. I am a Projector. It turns out being a Projector is all about waiting. Fancy that. My friend’s I-Ching was right.

Here’s what’s really true about me and waiting: I have only so much energy to go around, and I want to use it wisely. Offering my expertise into the world works best when I am invited to do so. That means waiting for an invitation. (Of course I can let people know I’m open to receiving invitations!)

Instead of taking waiting as a cue to judge myself, I now see it as getting to be “on cruise” for a while. Life is full of challenges, and it’s important to engage in them. It’s also important to breathe and enjoy the between times.

So if it looks like I’m just standing still, it’s all good. If I don’t have a smile on my face, remind me I’m “cruisin’!” Something good is coming down the pike. Fretting won’t help it get here faster. Sometimes waiting is the very best thing you can do.

Coach’s Challenge: Of course waiting is multifaceted. There are times when “what are you waiting for?!” is the right question, designed to kick you into gear. So the challenge is about discernment. If you are in suspended animation in some area of your life, ask yourself: “is this waiting about fear?” If there is emotion bottled up, it needs to be felt first, understood second. Once you’ve done that, you’ll know if the hesitation is about needing more information before going forward (like an invitation), or if it is simply fear of consequences. In the former case, go on “cruise.” In the latter case, pull up your big-girl panties and get into gear!

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