4 things to remember during the in-between seasons

I got lunch with one of my best friends today and among endless other conversations we had, we talked about this awkward gap of a season, this interim, we are both sitting in. I feel like I've had this conversation more lately with more people that completely and totally relate, than I ever have before. Seasons of waiting for the 'next big thing,' or whatnot... they are all too familiar. And this is what I am reminding myself (and all those other ladies):

You aren't defined by what you do.
If your life looks really cool on paper, great. If you have the perfect job, the perfect opportunity to serve your community, if you spend time with your family and friend regularly, if you do yoga every morning and read your Bible every night, great. But if your life doesn't look perfect on paper, if your life looked like that once but doesn't look like that now, great. Your are not defined as a human being by what you do, by how many things you do, by how great your life looks on paper. That would be an absurd way to judge people and a ridiculous way to stick a magnified glass on your own life. In the in-between seasons, remember that you are still entirely who you are. You are still growing, still being stretched, and your life is still full of purpose. Don't define yourself by what you do (or better yet, compare yourself to everyone else and what they are doing). Life is so much more than one aspect of yourself. You are the culmination of so much more.

You can still choose to be fulfilled.
When you are sitting there waiting for the next big opportunity, the next great job, when you are waiting to move, waiting for a specific change to happen, waiting for this certain day or even hour where you finally get where you are yearning to be... remember that even that won't ultimately fulfill you. You will always be wanting more. Once you find the perfect house, you'll want the perfect furniture. Once you have the 'perfect job,' you'll realize it's challenges and imperfections. Once you move to the perfect city, you'll realize the rent's really high. The list goes on forever, you know what I mean? You'll always be yearning for something more. We can't fool ourselves into thinking there's a point we reach in our life when we will ultimately have everything that will satisfy us. We have to be satisfied in the way we think and the way we view life, in our hope, in things that aren't materialistic and won't quickly fade, that's the only thing that will fulfill us. You can have this mindset and heart in seasons of plenty, of little, and you can even have this in the awkward in-betweens.

Re-evaluate.
Re-evaluate who you are and what you want. Also, give yourself space to be stretched and grown into whoever you want to be. In this awkward in-between season I am in, I have a lot more time on my hands than I will come a few months when I (God willing) am in a full-time consistent job. So I've taken up yoga. Because I always wanted to, and now I have the time and I know I won't have time to take gym classes once a 9-5 job rolls around. Instead of seeing weird in-between seasons as boring and frankly, just miserable. Look at the bright side. You may have time to explore new places, travel, take up a new hobby. You also, may have plenty of time commitments but you don't enjoy any of them- in that case, re-evaluate where you are at, why you aren't satisfied, and how you can remedy that lack of happiness and joy right now. Make a list of who you hope to be, the qualities you hope to grow in and learn, the things you hope to be involved in and passionate about. And pursue it. Maybe the awkward in-between is the perfect place to learn them.

It won't last forever.
It won't. Some seasons are awkward transitional ones, others are full of life and clarity and may have a far more evident purpose to you. Both are important. Don't be so sucked into how you wish your life looked a certain way right now. There is purpose in this season. So, explore, create, learn new things, and choose to see that the grass is pretty green, regardless.

"Everything is interim. Every season that I thought was stable and would be just how it was for a long time ended up being a preparation or a path to the next thing." -Shauna Niequest

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