“Your direction is more important than your speed”
“just because something is taking time does not mean its not working”
These quotes speak volumes to me in my everyday life and this new season of work. It is so easy to get discouraged in life and constantly feel like you’re falling behind. The truth is you are perfect just where you’re at. Comparison is the thief of joy so if you are spending everyday comparing you will never get to where you want to be.
I have this client that I think is so wise. Every time she comes in for her hair appointment we just talk about life, the good and the bad. This woman has one the most incredible stories mixed with some of the greatest tragedies that she is still walking through to this day. She is around 60 years old and when I tell you she has lived a lot of life I mean it. She moved here from New Zealand a little after her and her husband got married young because they wanted to raise a family here. For years she said it was great but recently she had to go through one of the greatest tragedies in her family. I met her about 4 weeks after the incident. Over this time Ive watched her through her grief and have tried to help where I could. I think she’s had to go through many seasons of grief but one she comes back to a lot is thinking what if..? if we did this, things would be different. Or if we never moved from New Zealand things would be better. I wish I could take her hurt or make things like this make sense but unfortunately I cant. But what I can do is listen. And even though she is going through so much pain and grief when I listen to her talk about things she loves I can hear the joy again. She will tell me stories about New Zealand and how there was no “keeping up with the Jones'”. You simply lived every day doing your usual things and being in nature. You didn’t worry about what you had or didn’t have. You didn’t waste time caring too much about money or climbing a corporate ladder. The more we talked about the place she loves the more healing I could see happening. She doesn’t know it but her speaking about her life experiences truly encourages me. And I think a lot of us forget that. Everything we’ve been through I believe happens for a reason and we aren’t meant to keep it to ourselves. We are put on this earth to make relationships with people not to go through life alone carrying our own burdens.
When you find yourself in a place in life where your circumstances are not what your goals are, this is when you sit in the waiting and learn and grow. There is power in the waiting. That is why, “Your direction is more important than your speed,” if you know who you are and where you want to be its just a matter of time. The waiting will bring wisdom. My client is in the waiting. She’s searching for the next steps and right answers. Whether that’s to move back home to new Zealand, or start fresh here she doesn’t know yet. The important thing for me to remind her is that its okay that she doesn’t know yet. Her heart is being rebuilt and prepared for more. She has already helped so many people that went through something similar to her in her workplace just by sharing her experiences. She doesn’t see it now but in time she will. Because the thing is everyday you are growing and learning and in the moment you cant see it. I think about it like when I was a little kid at my grandmas house we had a door frame where every time we would come to visit we would stand up to the wall and measure how tall we were. We did this for years. Those first times I would get measured, I would turn around and be like cool there wasn’t much of a difference haha, but suddenly you blink and you’ve grown 3 feet taller. It happens like that, so slow and minuscule everyday you don’t see what’s happening until one day you realize just how far you’ve come.
Take this idea into every aspect of your life. For me starting as a new stylist on my own im in a waiting season of growing my business and gaining new clients. Don’t wish away these times in life because I truly believe you would be wishing away your whole life. There will never be a time where we’re not in the waiting season of something. Once you can understand that you will learn to love it and appreciate it. “Just because something takes time, does not mean it’s not working”. Remember this quote in a world where we’re taught that everything is so immediate. The good things take time and it’s okay if what you’re working on takes more time. Writing like this is a way for me to really get my thoughts out and put things in perspective. If it is able to do the same for anyone else that would make my day. But even if no one else reads this I know I left encouraged. I’m thankful for the season I’m in right now and the people ive already met along the way. I cant wait to continue this journey and see what else is in store.