Wait

"For who can wait? Can you wait, really wait for the time, for the moment?"

Directives

"By the very nature of studenthood, one must wait to learn. Yet, during this time of waiting, one must apply oneself. One must seek a curriculum of preparation, and one must become very observant of others."

"Begin today to accept the presence of all the little problems in your life and accept that it is given to you, with the assistance of others, to resolve them and to minimize them so that you can take on the big problem that is calling for you, that is awaiting you, whose resolution is awaiting you with rewards that are beyond human estimation. Here you learn to support yourself. You learn about your nature, which is how you do things, your thinking and behavior. You learn about the nature of others and their similarities and differences from your own nature. You realize your inner strength. Your priorities begin to change and you seek greater things. To reach these greater things you will seek a Greater Power, for greater things can only be acquired or received with a Greater Power. Take on the big problem of your life, do not neglect the little ones and you will open doors that are waiting for you, for they are open already." "True honesty brings about the ability to wait, the ability to evaluate oneself constructively, the ability to discern, the ability to not speak when it is appropriate, the ability to speak when that is appropriate, the ability to follow a Greater Power within you, the ability to abide with what is known and the ability to avoid or step away from that which is harmful or untrue."

"You must wait for things to come about. You must wait for certainty. You must wait for confirmation. You must wait for companionship. You must wait for the results that you want now. And in many cases, you must realize that some of the goals that you have set for yourself will never be obtained.... you must learn to wait, to observe and not to judge."

"Learning not to judge here is very important. So are learning observation, learning stillness of mind, learning to listen within yourself as you listen to others, learning to be patient, learning to forego self-comforting ideas, learning to forego early conclusions while you wait for a greater realization, learning to live without so many self-definitions and learning to accept your problems and to work with them constructively. This involves giving other people the benefit of the doubt and learning to understand why they are reacting the way they are, for many people are poorly equipped to be a part of a world that is emerging into the Greater Community."

"Be open, compassionate, patient, observant, and ready to act. Wait for the moment when action is truly called for and resist all of the premature motivations for you to act. Be committed to learning and to unlearning and to discovering the truth no matter what you may have to confront within yourself and no matter what you may have to do"

"Students of Knowledge become attentive and observant within and without. They learn this because it is necessary. They seek a deeper direction, and they must patiently wait for this to emerge. In fact, it is often the waiting that is most important for their development. If you can learn to wait, you can learn to trust. If you can learn to trust, you can learn to observe. If you can learn to observe, you can learn to recognize things. This is a very important part of your education."

Standing By

see Abiding

Potential

"Greater possibilities ... are waiting for you."

"Your purpose in life is waiting to be discovered once you have reached a state of maturity."

"Hidden deep within you is your calling in life, waiting to be activated, waiting until all the internal and external conditions are ready for it to emerge and express itself."

"There are genuine relationships waiting for you in life, waiting for you to be ready and desirous of them, but you must have the capability and the desire."

"Allow the changing focus and direction of your life to illustrate to you the greater value that is awaiting you."

"If we but give you the first piece of the puzzle, will you run around saying it is the answer, when it is but the first piece? And can you wait patiently while hundreds of pieces are given to you, patiently fitting them together in sequence?"

"Consider how it is possible that the appropriateness of a relationship can be known at the outset. How do you know these things and how do you proceed? If you are open to experiencing other people’s purpose, their temperament, how far they have progressed, their maturity, and their thinking and behavior—if you are open to knowing these things without trying to assign value and without trying to fit others into your ideals, then, indeed, you can know if they are an appropriate prospect for relationship for you. How can you know this? Because Knowledge within you will say 'yes' or 'no.' If Knowledge does not say 'yes,' then it is 'no.' 'No' can mean that this person is not appropriate, or it can mean that you must wait and not become engaged."[

Languishing in Time

"Do you wonder why people let situations become intolerable? That is a very marked tendency in human beings, both individually and collectively. People wait until the situation is dire because then everyone must go into action."

"Often people become very lazy here because they are waiting for something to change them. Then if it goes wrong, they have someone else to blame.“Hey, I was just there and it changed. Don’t blame me!” But to take full responsibility means that you are cooperating with life in bringing about the necessary adjustments as you proceed."

"Fundamental questions are answered by an experience—an experience that at the very outset can be quite painful, as it is painful at times to touch upon something that has been waiting for you for oh so long. But the pain of this is quickly replaced by greater insight and a realignment within yourself once you have hit upon an essential truth. These experiences are the result of moments of introspection often begun by grave disappointment and carried out in times of reappraisal."

"If you feel a spiritual emergence arising within you that you must respond to, you will have to change your relationship with your family. You cannot undergo this change and not have relationships around you adjust themselves to it. You must do it and not wait for someone else to do it for you."

"Hesitation is unpleasant if it is prolonged, but Knowledge waits very patiently. Believe me, when I say you must wait for Knowledge, think how much Knowledge must wait for you! But because Knowledge is not trying to become anything, it can afford to wait."

"Because people have difficulty waiting for anything, they will attempt to fulfill themselves with whatever is available now.You as a race are not well trained to wait for anything, particularly in this nation where instant success is the motto. But when you begin to tire of this constant attempt to fulfill your life, you will begin to open.This is part of the preparation for Knowledge, for without your constant attempt to manage and control your destiny, something else begins to emerge within you."

Beyond Time

"You had to wait a long time to come here. You cannot just enter the world at will, you know. You have to wait in line."

"Your Teachers represent the future because they are what will be awaiting you when you leave this world."

"This life is preparation, like childhood is preparation for adulthood. Adulthood is preparation for your Spiritual Family, who will be waiting for you when you arrive and pass through the thin membrane that separates these two realms of existence."

"When you leave this world, you go back to your Home and you meet your group. You look and you ask, “Well, did I give it all? Are my bags empty? Did I deliver everything?” If your bags are not empty, you will want to come back. No one will order you back. You will say,“My God! Why did I not see it? It is so obvious to me now! I am Home. It is so obvious! Why was I such a miserable person? I was only there for a few years, yes? It seems like yesterday that I was with you all. Well, I want to go back.When can I do it?” And you find out you have to wait a little while."

Metaphors

"You are waiting for that spark of truth that runs like a current through humanity, and you are opening yourself so that it may run through you, so that you may conduct it and be a terminal for its expression."

"Our teaching is very simple. It takes time, it has many steps, but it is very unified. You can always come back to it. It is like an old friend who waits for you while you stop by the side of the road to ponder and think and imagine and dream.Then you come back and say,“Okay, let’s go on together.” And you go on together."

"I have learned in life, as you are learning now, how to distinguish between action and contemplation. There is a time to act. And there is a time to not act but to be alert, like a hunter who must wait oh so long for the right moment to act.This ability to stalk your prey, whether it be an animal on the hunt or Knowledge within yourself, is something that has been lost in your society to a great extent."

"One of the most important aspects of healing things in the world, beyond yourself, is leaving things alone. Ninety percent of the time you leave things alone, like someone cultivating a garden. Ninety percent of the time you leave things alone.Ten percent of the time you carry out a very specific action that makes everything else possible. By leaving things alone, I am not saying you neglect things because the good gardener never neglects the garden, but he or she understands that there is a greater process that actually produces and brings about the results in a predictable manner.... Knowledge waits for the moment and then gives the remedy."

"But when you leave the classroom after eighty years, more or less, you go home to your 'parents,' who are your Spiritual Family. It was just a very long day in class, that’s all—so long, in fact, that it allowed you to concentrate on the classroom entirely.... If you were in a classroom for eighty years and you were thinking about home, you would have a hard time being in the classroom.'Can’t wait to get home!' You can remember how it was when you were a little kid, waiting for the time to come around when school was out. Couldn’t wait, watching the clock, couldn’t hear the teacher. Just waiting for the time to pass."

See Also

Do not wait

Further Study

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 1: I am without Knowledge now.

• Steps to Knowledge, between Steps 9 & 10: Why am I doing this anyway?

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 95: How can I possibly fulfill myself?

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 101: The world needs me, but I will wait.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 137: I will accept the mystery of my life.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 142: I will be consistent today.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 167: With Knowledge I am free in the world.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 177: I will learn to be honest today.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 207: I forgive those whom I think have hurt me.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 240: Small ideas cannot fulfill my need for Knowledge.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 250: I will not hold myself apart today.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 265: There is a greater freedom awaiting me.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 274: I seek freedom from ambivalence today.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 275: Today I seek freedom from uncertainty.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 292: How can I be angry with the world when it only serves me?

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 321: The world is awaiting my contribution.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 328: Today I will honor those who have given to me.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 331: What is small expresses that which is great.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 358: I wish to be at home in the world.

• Steps to Knowledge, Step 365: I am committed to learn to learn. I am committed to give what I am meant to give. I am committed because I am part of life. I am part of life because I am one with Knowledge.