How to Find Patience in an A.S.A.P World
Tarah Avery
Patience does not come easily for me. It is really hard.
When I started this online business, I didn’t know that it would take me 3+ years to even get it barely off the ground. I am still in the early stages of business. You could say I am a “micro startup.” And the waiting isn’t fun. There are so many products and freebies and resources I want to get out there ASAP, but I want to be the tortoise, not the hare.
Gordon and I are what most people would call “starving artists.” While we are not actually starving, we are living at a bare minimum. But it’s a good season. It’s a growing season. It’s a learning season. It’s a season where we can learn how to manage what we do have in a healthy way so that hopefully one day we can learn to manage more.
There are days, though, where this season of life seems to drag on and I wonder when it will change. When will our season of barely scraping by, pass? Did I mention patience is really challenging for me?
It’s hard to feel content and happy when the world (and sometimes those closest to us) tells us where we need to be in life. We need to have this career, that husband, this many babies…we need to look like that, have a house that’s “Fixer Upper” perfect (Boy, do I love me some Chip & Joanna Gaines!), make this much money, and on and on and on.
I am tired of feeling behind in life. I am tired of thinking that to have “arrived” I need to have x amount of followers and y number of email subscribers to make me feel like it counts.
So many people my age feel like we need to be at the same “level” as our mentor who’s been working at her career in music, or writing, or online biz [or whatever your mentor does] for 10+ years to get where she is today. Where we want to be.
But have we taken the time? Are you using the time that God has given you to cultivate your gifts and talents, or are you waiting around for God to do all the work by providing the “right” opportunity?
There are so many times I’ve wondered when this business will “take off.” But the reality of it is that I’ve been doing this full time for a short time, and I am only scratching the surface. I’m in the starter season where my mentor is in a more mature season of business.
And maybe this is the same for you.
It’s important, friends, that we understand our season in life. I love how Andy Stanley captures seasons in 4 main categories (specifically for couples or singles who want to be married & have kids one day):
- Pre-Kids (I’d add pre-marriage)
- Little Kids
- Teenagers
- Empty Nest
What he suggests is that we pinpoint which season we’re in and look at what are called “no for nows but not forevers.” What is it in this season of life that you might be saying this is a “no right now, but not forever?”
Here are a few examples from our own life: eating out, spending extra, kids, free evenings (we’re usually gigging), buying a home, etc.
It’s ok to want to get married, have kids, get that perfect job, live in an awesome house, and travel the world. And it’s also ok not to do it all at once. We have seasons for a reason and there are many freedoms we get in each season that we may not have in others.
And that’s the beauty of sacrificing what we want now for what we can wait on later. Remember that what you are saying “no” to right now probably won’t be a no forever.
What does your season look like? What are some things you are saying “no” to this season?
Your Friend,
