It was Friday night some weeks back and just to meditate I tend to run around after work and take photos. The thing about capturing moments is you never know when you'll get those moments where you know you've gotten the perfect shot. This was one of those moments.
The beautiful thing is, as a photographer, I'm learning - you know when you've gotten the shot. Apparently this is a feeling many of the photographers know and feel. It's like writing and everything falls into line. You don't know how it happens, it just happens.
What got me at this moment is how serene she was waiting. I loved that she was sitting. She wasn't on her phone. She was beautiful. Maybe she was thinking about something, maybe she wasn't. It looked like she was just having a moment and enjoying the solitude. I could appreciate it.
While I'm here, I have to say something, I think it's time we change how we wait. Or IF we wait.
I've spent a lot of time waiting on others. I've waited for responses, for love, for approval, for chances, for people to want to collaborate. At least I used to wait. But here's the things about waiting on other people - it doesn't work.
Just consider this - while we need others to collaborate on things, our actual destiny and what we're set to do isn't tied to anyone but ourselves and whatever God we serve. Waiting on someone goes against a good use of time. It's against the policy of good stewardship.
I'm here to remind myself not to wait. Waiting will leave me missing out on certain opportunities. It'll have me second guessing myself at times. Especially when I'm waiting on the right time, the right person, the right moment. It's easier to convince myself I should wait just a little bit longer. Sometimes it's not about waiting, it's about what we do while we're waiting.
Photography teaches me about the moment. If you don't get a shot - like this one above - you won't ever be able to get the shot again. No two photos are the same. The light, the moment, the timing is impossible to recreate. Certain situations are a once in a lifetime moment. When you see the shot you have to take it. A fraction of a second of hesitation (read waiting, delay, second thoughts) will have you missing the shot of a lifetime.
It's like that for most things in life. Of course there's a right time, maybe a better time. But what better time than now?
It's time to unlearn how we wait. Whether it's using things that are a distraction or telling ourselves we're not ready for whatever number of reasons. We can unlearn this and teach ourselves a better way. We can learn to make moves when everyone else tells us to stay put. We can learn how to create new opportunities when others see nothing. The goal isn't always sitting still either. Sometimes being in wait means being productive doing other things until what we are waiting for comes along.
This is something I had to consider. I was waiting for certain things to happen, waiting to reach certain milestones before I would attempt other things. Like "As soon as I get to [insert destination point (ie) weight, money, location, level of job, marital status, hair cut or whatever] then I'll [insert desired goal, destination]. We have to be careful about setting our intentions that way. What happens if I don't lose the weight? What happens if I don't get married? What happens if I don't get to that seven-figure income? Will I still miss out on life? Will I sit there and lament over the life I don't have versus the one I do?
Nowadays, it's about how much life I can create with the current situation and with the current moments in hand. I can't play the cards I don't have yet.
In the words of Andy Dufresne: