Stop Waiting
There comes a moment when you realize you’ve been waiting.
Waiting for more time, more energy, the perfect conditions. Or waiting for permission. Waiting until the kids are grown, the bills are paid, the path is clear. But deep down, you already know—the path doesn’t become clear until you begin to walk it.
All our life, we are told what to do, how to act, who to marry, what job we should have. Some of these things are good. Guidance when we needed it. But, some are just not right. They don’t “fit”. No matter how well meaning the friend, parent or spouse is, some times the fit is just wrong. My grandmother always wanted me to be a bank teller.
Ummm. No.
My career that I loved, portrait photography, was the passion that fueled my life. Creating images that were art. Creating images that became family heirlooms. Showing people how beautiful they really were.
Now, I don’t know if being a bank teller is what she always wanted, if she thought that career was a safe choice, if it was what was available to her at the time period when she grew up, or if she really didn’t see the artist in me. Regardless, I never considered it for more than 5 minutes.
So, what if today, right now, you choose to refuse to wait? Refuse to detour because someone else thinks its the right path for you?
This doesn’t mean rushing. It doesn’t mean doing all the things at once.
It means no longer abandoning the life that quietly calls to you.
It means beginning again—gently, intentionally, right where you are.
A Moment of Permission
Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Mary Oliver once wrote about wandering alone in the woods as a young woman. One day, standing among towering pines, she felt a quiet but startling clarity:
“I simply decided to stay out all day. No one had given me permission, but I didn’t need it anymore.”
That small, defiant choice—remaining in the woods with her notebook—marked the beginning of her truest life. From that day forward, she no longer waited for approval to follow what stirred her soul.
Her poetry would later echo that moment of freedom: “You do not have to be good. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”
Like Oliver, you don’t need a grand overhaul to begin. You just need one simple act of refusal: to stop waiting for permission.
A Reset Doesn’t Have to Be Loud
Sometimes life hands us a full-stop moment—burnout, heartbreak, overwhelm or injury—and we’re invited to reset. Other times, that whisper for change comes softly, asking us to look around and ask, “Is this really how I want to be living?” It comes even when life is seemingly going fine. Just not in the direction you know is “true north” for YOU.
A life reset doesn’t need to be dramatic. It might simply mean shifting your pace, turning inward, and beginning a quiet re-alignment with your deepest values.
The reset begins not with a massive overhaul, but with a small breath of permission:
“I no longer have to wait.”
Nature is a Mirror for What You’re Ready to See
Nature doesn’t hurry, but it also doesn’t hesitate.
The seed cracks open in darkness.
The tide returns on cue. The trees do not question their timing.
Time in nature can offer that same clarity to us. A quiet forest walk. A sit by the water. Bare feet in the grass. These moments help us remember what we want, what matters, and what we’re capable of choosing.
In stillness, we hear our truth more clearly. In motion, we feel ready to respond.
When we reconnect to the earth, we reconnect to our own inner compass.
One Step at a Time: What It Really Means to Refuse to Wait
Refusing to wait doesn’t require you to leap—it asks you to move.
Try this:
- Write for five minutes each morning about the life you’re moving toward.
- Take a silent walk once a week and listen to what stirs in your heart.
- Create one simple ritual that anchors your days: lighting a candle, watching the sunrise, journaling outdoors.
The life you want isn’t “out there.” It’s already within you, waiting for you to make space for it.
A Moment of Inspiration
“Begin anywhere.” – John Cage
What are you waiting for permission to begin… and what would it look like to start today, with nature as your witness?
Journal Prompt:
Where in your life have you been waiting for the “right time”? What would it feel like to take one small step forward today—grounded in your own clarity and guided by nature’s quiet encouragement?
Begin Today, Gently
If this message stirred something in you, let it be an invitation.
You don’t need to overhaul your life overnight.
You just need to turn toward what you truly want—and take the first step.
Let the trees hold your worries.
Let the sky remind you of possibility.
Let yourself begin.
You don’t have to wait anymore.
Rediscover what matters through nature
Feeling Overwhelmed or craving stillness? At Finding Nature’s Beauty, we create space to breathe, reflect and reconnect –with yourself and the world around you. Reflections, our newsletter, is designed to help you find calmness and clarity from the stress of everyday living by providing weekly inspiration, stories, and actionable ideas to guide you.