What I Learned From Waiting

What I Learned From Waiting

I did not arrive here by being fearless,

I arrived by staying when leaving felt easier.

Each delay carved patience into my breathing,

each pause taught my hands how to remain open.

Time was never cruel, only thorough,

asking the same question in quieter ways.

It stripped urgency from my decisions,

until truth stood still enough to recognise.

I learned that waiting is not absence,

it is presence without applause.

It is choosing to trust unseen weight,

rather than forcing proof into daylight.

There were nights I mistook silence for neglect,

until silence answered with understanding.

Nothing rushed me into becoming,

nothing abandoned me for taking time.

Waiting removed the false deadlines I obeyed,

the voices insisting I was behind.

It slowed my pulse until clarity arrived,

without panic pretending to be instinct.

I learned how much strength hides in restraint,

how steadiness outlasts urgency.

What grows slowly carries deeper roots,

what waits learns how to remain.

Now I stand with nothing chasing me forward,

nothing pulling me back by fear.

Waiting shaped me without asking permission,

and left me capable of staying whole.