Filling the Gaps of Waiting: How to Stay Grounded When Emotions Rise

Waiting for a major decision or a significant result can feel like a true practice of the heart.

While we wait, our minds naturally fly toward the future.

“Hurry up.”

“Why isn’t this going the way I planned?”

“What on earth is going to happen?”

Irritation and anxiety surge from deep within.

But moments like these are also an opportunity —a chance to understand how the mind works.

Irritation Is Like a Wave

Strange as it may be, irritation does not burn with the same intensity for twenty-four hours straight.

There are moments when it surges powerfully, and moments when you find yourself thinking about something else, completely forgetting it.

It is here one moment. Gone the next.

And yet, we fall into the illusion that it is “always there, somewhere.”

Emotions are like waves that rise and fall. They cannot stay in the same place forever.

If a “gap” suddenly opens in your heart and irritation slips in —

There is only one thing to do.

Right here. Right now.

Simply return to what is in front of you: the work in your hands, the ground beneath your feet.

You Are Not Your Thoughts

When unpleasant sensations arise, they are often tied to one thought:

“I want things to be a certain way, but they aren’t.”

This is the heart’s desire to control reality.

But please remember:

You are not your thoughts.

They are like clouds — constantly changing shape, appearing and disappearing, unreliable by nature.

You can simply leave them alone.

“Ah… I see. Right now I’m feeling that things aren’t going my way.”

Say that gently to yourself. And let it end there.

Then quietly return to what is in front of you.

Beyond the Clouds, There Is Always Blue Sky

We are not the clouds drifting across the sky.

We are the blue sky itself —the vast openness that remains, no matter what passes through it.

So if irritation is here, sit with it in full bloom.

When it hurts, just sit.

It is okay to be frustrated. It is okay to be irritated sometimes.After all, we are human.

If you leave it alone, that irritation will pass on its own.

What matters is not becoming one with your thoughts. Not grabbing onto emotion.

Instead of waiting for the storm to pass,

Simply live this moment with care.

May this time of waiting become nourishment —growing your quiet strength and inner stillness.

Words and Photo by K E I K O