Thursday, April 10, 2014
I’m sitting in the waiting room of a hospital, waiting…. I’m not sure any of us like waiting for anything but waiting at a hospital has to be one of the more agonizing types of “waits”. The past couple of weeks have been filled with waiting for my family and me. We got some unsettling news about the health of someone in our family so the past two weeks have been filled with waiting… waiting for appointments to be made, tests to be complete, results to come back and now today, waiting for surgery to complete. I am not an overly patient person so this type of waiting has been rather agonizing. Mostly because it’s about someone I love dearly. I’ve been trying to wait patiently, remind myself that everything is happening in the perfect timing and remain hopeful and positive. But, I am finding that it’s not working; my self-coaching feels resistant as opposed to soothing. I’m usually pretty good at talking myself in our out of things but with this particular situation that is filled with uncertainty and is also something I’ve never experienced before, talking to myself hasn’t done the trick. I realized that waiting in this type of situation is not something I’m good at on my own.
What has been most soothing is the comfort and support of my dear friends. You might be thinking “Well, of course, Andria. That’s a no-brainer” but I’m a mostly private person so sharing private family stuff is not something that comes naturally for me. Yet the past two weeks have proven to me that without the support of the people closest to me, the waiting would have been doubling agonizing. During times like these I am reminded that people come into our lives at the perfect, right time and that having a support system in place is one of the most important things in life. Remembering to nurture those relationships in both good and bad times is what makes all our experiences worthwhile and better, even the bad ones. I have also discovered that what I would normally do in a situation that requires my patience did not work this time. What my family has been dealing with the past couple of weeks is something we haven’t ever dealt with before so the rules changed for me – my needs changed. What we naturally gravitate towards might need to change depending on the situation we’re faced with; I now have a whole new perspective on waiting and being patient and it involves a lot more than self-coaching!
As I sit here in the waiting room of the hospital hoping for the best results I can feel the love and support of my close friends. Their words, hugs and support the past few weeks have made my life better and the waiting easier. I know that when the waiting is over, regardless of what is next, having that support system around me will make all the difference in the world.
