I Can Wait
This is a reflection I wrote some years ago — a quiet reminder I still return to. It feels at home here.
I’ve spent much of my life being unable to wait. Unable to wait for the next holiday, tea party, gathering, the next adventure, the next life stage, the next moment.
When I was sixteen, I couldn’t wait to be eighteen.
Life would be great then.
When I was eighteen, I couldn’t wait to be twenty-one.
Finally, an adult.
When I was twenty, I couldn’t wait to graduate.
Once I graduated, I dreamed of getting married and starting a career.
Once married, all I could think about was setting up our home.
And then babies — I couldn’t wait to have our first child.
So many years spent leaning forward, eyes fixed on what was next.
Today, when I look back on all that waiting, something surprises me.
I can wait.
The urgency toward the next milestone — the next holiday, the next season, the next decade — has softened.
I still love holidays. I always will.
Parts of me will probably always anticipate what’s coming.
But these days, I find myself living more fully here — in this moment.
My longing now is to slow time, not rush it.
To let the years pass gently.
Learning, living, and being right here feels like the most beautiful thing I can imagine.
Do I still dream?
Of course.
I’m tempted to long for
The world to find happiness or at least contentment.
For children everywhere to be loved as they deserve.
For kindness and civility and flowers and a perfect summer.
But I won’t say I can’t wait.
Because of what I’m learning now.
I am content today.
Tomorrow will come — and I believe it will be beautiful — but it will come in its time.
Today is here.
My family is here.
Blessings — sometimes hidden — are here.
And that is enough.
I can wait.
— Stephanie
This was beautiful!
Love it!!