The day when I realized I was where I needed to be

I remember sitting at my desk, completely swarmed with work. Phone ringing, emails coming and of course, not enough hours in the day to complete everything that I was tasked to get done. Eight hours was just not long enough to meet the demands of all the people who needed something from me.
I was stuck.
Vision and dream boards surrounded my room and I just knew my “next level” was right around the corner and that change was coming soon. I went to work totally disconnected from my current assignments, practically daydreaming — fantasizing about where I would be next and what that environment would look like.
I was in the middle. In the middle of not being completely happy with where I was, and yet not sure of my next destination. I was in the hallway of life.
I’ve talked to many colleagues who found themselves in a similar situation. After hours of conversation, we realized one thing: We were not happy at all, and as a result, we were wasting precious hours of our lives trying to “figure it all out.”
I told myself this is not the way to live. There must be more to life then standing here and waiting. It was at that moment when I began to process my situation and try to make the best out of my present moment. It was then when I realized that the hallway is not so bad.
This is what the hallway experience has taught me:
You are not where you used to be. Think about it, no matter how much your current place of employment does not provide you the best bubbly feelings, it is still better than that job you had in college.
You’re progressing. Equally as rewarding is the feeling that you are making progress, because at one point, that job that you are transitioning from was indeed the goal. Now that a new goal is set, you can physically see yourself moving forward.
You have time to prepare. The hallway gives you time to pause and reflect on the lessons learned and grow into the skills that are necessary for the next step to be achieved.
It all happens in order. No skipping steps, literally one step leads to the next. What may be thought of as wasted and irrelevant is an important part of what is to come. Don’t become frustrated while you wait because a lesson may be missed.
It was after I learned these lessons that I realized that I was right where I needed to be. That all of it was truly coming together and that nothing that I was experiencing would be wasted when I arrived at my next goal. It would have been so much easier to give up and race into the next opportunity. Instead, I chose to stay a few months in the waiting room — learning, growing and preparing.
What are you doing while you wait?
LaToyia Jones is founder of Alive on Purpose