Are you avoiding or waiting?

I was talking with someone this week about avoidance and in particular how we sometimes sabotage ourselves or others by avoiding. And it got me thinking about last week’s musing on waiting. 

How do you know if you are waiting or avoiding? What’s the difference? 

Our experience of waiting can be quite different from our experience of avoiding. But before going too far down that tunnel, let’s take a quick look at the definitions for some insights. 

Avoiding: to keep away from or stop oneself from doing something; to prevent the occurrence or effectiveness of something; to not go to or through [a place, a feeling, a mental state]. 

Waiting: to stay in place in expectation of; to remain stationary in readiness; to look forward expectantly; to be ready and available. 

I don’t often think of waiting as an action so I particularly appreciated this definition: “the action of staying where one is or delaying action until a particular time or until something else happens.” 

One of the key differences is waiting comes from (or at least can come from) a place of love while avoiding almost always comes from a place of fear.

Have you been thinking about starting something new, reconnecting with someone, taking on a project? With all of the above in mind, are you waiting? Or avoiding? 

What's the difference for you? 

Put your thoughts and questions in the comments. I would love to hear from you.