Waiting...

The Background:

I captured this image in Cathedral Valley in Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. This formation is known as the Temple of the Sun (a second, similar feature, the Temple of the Moon, was behind me). We arrived at this remote area well in advance of sunset and had a chance to take pictures of both formations earlier in the day. We then had to make an important decision – should we move on, in the hopes of finding another area to shoot at sunset, or should we wait and see what might happen here. In the end, we decided to take a break and wait to see how the sunset light would impact this scene. I was very pleased with that choice when we started to see the more subtle lighting create drama in the clouds and highlight the delicate texture in the rocks.

The Message:

Waiting is probably the hardest activity there is. When we want something, we want it as soon as possible. When we put in the hard work, we want to earn the reward immediately. But one thing we learn early on is that things take time and much of our life Is spent waiting to see the results or reap the benefit. This is especially difficult in relation to self-improvement – we may avoid the hard work of change for some time, but when we finally put in the work to confront ourselves and our shortcomings, we want to see positive change quickly. This desire is often not realistic – we may have to “invest” in small improvements over an extended period of time before we ever see real change. It can be difficult to stay motivated during those periods where we are working so hard, but not yet seeing the results. The best approach can be to create a vision of success in our mind and remind ourselves that the effort we are putting in will help us reach that success. Often times, when we finally get to that point and the vision comes together it can be more beautiful than we had even imagined.

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