The Sweetness of Waiting

I've been thinking about our conversation on Monday.

About the pear trees.

All week I've been helping graduate students put the finishing touches on their final projects.

There's a certain excitement that comes with watching people realize how much they've learned.

It's easy to focus on the finished project.

• The presentation.
• The grade.
• The accomplishment.

But those moments only exist because of months of steady work.

Then I walked through the orchard again.

The pears are still hanging from the branches.

They're close.

But they're not ready.

And that's exactly how they're supposed to be.

No one gets frustrated with a pear for taking its time.

No one stands beneath the tree shouting, "Come on! Hurry up!"

We understand that fruit ripens according to nature's timeline.

So why are we so impatient with ourselves?

Why do we expect healing to happen overnight?

Confidence to appear instantly?

Dreams to unfold according to our schedule?

As a coach, I often meet people who feel discouraged because they believe they should be further along by now.

Maybe you've felt that way too.

But what if your life isn't behind?

What if you're simply still ripening?

Growth isn't always visible.

    Sometimes it's happening quietly beneath the surface.

        Sometimes it's happening while no one else notices.

            Sometimes the waiting is doing as much work as the growing.

Coffee Conversation

Before we finish our coffee together...

Can I leave you with one question?

What in your life are you trying to harvest before it's had time to ripen?

Sit with that.

Maybe the waiting isn't delaying your story.

Maybe it's preparing it.

This Week's Reminder

The sweetest fruit is rarely the first to ripen.

Until next time, keep leading with strength and living with purpose.

-srt

#ThursdayThoughts #Leadership #Growth #LiveWithPurpose #ReaCoachingandConsulting

Ripening Takes Time

This week is the final week of my graduate Project Management course at Jessup University.

My office has been filled with project plans, executive status reports, final presentations, and students putting the finishing touches on months of hard work.

It's one of my favorite weeks of the semester because I get to watch confidence replace uncertainty.

Between meetings and grading, I stepped outside for a walk through our orchard.

The pears are almost ready.

        Almost.

            Not quite.

It struck me that no one stands in an orchard demanding the fruit hurry up.

It ripens when it's ready.

    Patiently.

        Quietly.

            Exactly as it was created to do.

                Maybe we're not so different.

We spend so much time wishing we were further along that we forget growth has its own timeline.

Some lessons can't be rushed.

Some dreams need another season.

Some parts of us are still quietly ripening.

This Week's Reminder

Don't mistake "not yet" for "not ever." Some of the sweetest things in life simply take time.

Happy Monday, friends.

Until next time, keep leading with strength and living with purpose.

-srt

#MotivationalMonday #Leadership #Growth #LiveWithPurpose #ReaCoachingandConsulting

The Things We Miss When We Rush

I've been thinking about our conversation on Monday.

About the female praying mantis who unexpectedly became part of my morning.

I've smiled every time I've walked past that spot in my wildflower garden this week, wondering if she's still there... quietly doing exactly what I asked her to do.

"Eat all the buggies."

It's funny what stays with us.

But what has stayed with me isn't really the praying mantis.

It's the realization that I almost missed her completely.

Had I been thinking about my to do list...

    Checking my phone...

        Listening to a podcast...

            Or hurrying to the next thing...

                I would have watered the flowers and walked away.

Instead, I noticed.

And noticing changed my morning.

It made me wonder...

How much of life are we missing simply because we're moving too fast?

Our world has become incredibly loud.

• Notifications.
• Meetings.
• Podcasts.
• Social media.
• Opinions.
• Constant movement.

We've become so accustomed to noise that silence almost feels uncomfortable.

Yet I've come to believe silence isn't the problem.

It's the invitation.

Because solitude and loneliness are not the same thing.

Loneliness is feeling disconnected.

Solitude is choosing to reconnect.

Some of the most important conversations you'll ever have won't happen with another person.

They'll happen with yourself.

They begin with questions like...

• Who am I becoming?
• What matters most to me right now?
• What have I been too busy to notice?

Those answers rarely arrive while we're rushing through another day.

They emerge when we become quiet enough to hear them.

Coffee Conversation

Before we finish our coffee together...

Can I leave you with just one question?

What have you been moving too quickly to notice?

Maybe it's someone who needs your attention.

    Maybe it's a dream you've quietly set aside.

        Maybe it's your own heart asking for a little breathing room.

This week, don't try to fill every quiet moment.

Protect one.

You never know what you might discover.

This Week's Reminder

The things that matter most are rarely the loudest.

Until next time, keep leading with strength and living with purpose.

-srt

P.S.

As this publishes, my husband and I are celebrating another wedding anniversary.

We were married in 1994, and if there's one thing these past 32 years have taught me, it's that the best relationships don't just survive change... they grow through it.

He's known every version of me.

The young woman just beginning her career.

The wife.

The mom.

The executive.

The coach.

The professor.

The nonprofit leader.

And the woman who is still becoming.

Through every season, he has loved me while I was growing, changing, succeeding, failing, questioning, grieving, healing, and finding my way.

He has celebrated my springs, carried me through my winters, believed in me during the in-between seasons, and somehow loved every version of the woman I was becoming.

Maybe that's one more reason I believe so deeply in honoring every season of life.

Because the right people don't just celebrate us when we're blooming.

They love us while our roots are growing.

Happy Anniversary, my love.

Thank you for believing in me, for giving me the freedom to become who God created me to be, and for choosing me through every season.

I still choose you.

I love you,

- ReaGrl (that Gemini girl with the rose colored glasses)

#ThursdayThoughts #Leadership #Growth #LiveWithPurpose #ReaCoachingandConsulting