“The Wait is the critical period between ‘wanting’ and ‘getting.’ It’s when you quiet your mind and trust God.”

– DeVon Franklin & Meagan Good, The Wait

There are countless things in life that I’m still waiting for and sometimes that wait feels like an eternity. At the end of the day, I have to remind myself that the wait is always worth it. But the wait itself can be quite stressful. Whether you’re waiting to have a baby, waiting to hear back from a job or waiting to find your life partner, these 6 things can be a stress-saver for you in your “waiting season.”

1. Be productive.

Waiting doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing. Find opportunities to better yourself and work towards your goals while you’re waiting.  Take a class. Read a book. Join a fitness gym. Create a back-up plan. Research the skills you need to be successful and start acquiring those skills ASAP.

2. Get closer to God.

You may not have what you’re believing for yet, but you still have God. Trust that His plan and His timing is best. Spend more time with Him. Ask Him questions. Praise Him in advance. Pursue Him deeper. Getting into scripture provides you with the comfort you need to bring you though the waiting process and the ammunition you need to fight against the feeling of hopelessness that will definitely come your way.

3. Remind yourself that: Character > Titles

While waiting, it’s easy to get caught up in what others think about you. Let’s be honest, waiting isn’t usually pretty. When you had the titles, people adored you. They looked up to you because of your success. However, when those are stripped away or in the process of being attained, that’s when you need to take a good hard look at your character. If your character is strong, then people will still be drawn to you and you can still have influence. If your character is lacking, then the waiting period is a good time to search your heart and make meaningful adjustments.

4. Travel.

Now is the time to go on an adventure (or two or three). Do the things that you’ve always wanted to do, but never had time to. Go on a cross-country trip. Backpack through Europe. Go fishing. Go to a mall on the other side of town. I don’t care what you do just do something crazy. There’s no other time to cross items off of your bucket list like the present.

5. Visualize that your disappointments will turn into a dance floor.

Things might look downright crappy when you’re waiting. Everything may seem to be going wrong for you and right for everyone else. You may keep taking L’s and losing hope. So in those moments (because those moments will happen), it’s helpful to visualize how your test can turn into a testimony. What you’re going through in those ugly moments are only preparing the stage for an even greater victory. If you start to think about it that way, then you start to oddly become thankful for the disappointments because when you get what you’ve been waiting for, you’ll only have more reasons to dance.

6. Don’t rush the process.

Even if you feel like you’re ready to move past this season in your life, you actually might not be. Christine Caine explained it best when she said, “Taking a ‘step of faith,’ in a season when you should be staying where you are, with patience, can cause unnecessary detours and frustrations.” Sometimes it’s best to take your time with the waiting process. Let it refine you and fully prepare you for what’s next. I’ll say it again, Take your time in the waiting. It’s a precious yet painful season. But “beauty is pain,”they say. You have to endure a bit of a painful process to get the purest diamonds.