First published 21 June 2025

A Lesson in Patience

My note to you this week was deliberately delayed.  

As I mentioned last week, my book was due to be available to purchase on Thursday, and as I have committed to only sending one e-mail per week to you all, I chose to delay sending this as I had hoped the book being approved by Amazon would be imminent…

Well, that didn’t quite go to plan.
 

So what happened?

After ordering the proof last week, I had what can only be described as a productive whirlwind.

I bought a new domain name (www.grownupadventure.com), battled through the technical setup, grabbed the relevant social media accounts, and created all the backend systems – including writing and designing a bonus to be downloaded from the back of the book.

The proof arrived late Tuesday.

Wednesday was spent reformatting sections and updating all the website references.

By Wednesday night, feeling rather pleased with myself, I uploaded the manuscript and cover to Amazon.

Then came the reality check: “It can take up to 72 hours before your book becomes available” with a status of “in review.”

Cue the frustration…
 

In Limbo

Eighteen hours later: “Attention needed” – the spine text was too big (despite looking fine on the proof).

Font reduced, re-uploaded, 72-hour clock restarted. Another eighteen hours: “Attention needed” – this time the cryptic message that cover text needed to be “unobstructed and fully legible.”

Panic mode activated.

Was it all the text or just the spine?

I changed to a shorter font, increased the size for safety, and tweaked everything else to make it stand out better. 

Third time’s a charm, right?!?!? 🤞

The clock restarts again. As I write this, I’m hoping Monday morning at 9:30am will bring good news and not another “Attention needed” mail.

What Patience Actually Teaches Us

This whole experience has reminded me that patience isn’t passive waiting – it’s active trust (and boy, that can prove to be a challenge!).

There’s a difference between sitting in frustrated limbo and choosing to use the waiting time purposefully.

In our instant-everything world, we’ve lost the art of productive patience.

We expect immediate results, instant gratification, and seamless processes.

But some of life’s most worthwhile things simply cannot be rushed.

• Books need proper review processes.
• Relationships need time to deepen.
• Healing needs space to unfold.
• Dreams need time to materialise.

The departure board image captures it perfectly – sometimes we’re simply “delayed,” not cancelled.
 

Making Friends with the Wait

Here are some ways to transform frustrating waits into productive pauses:

Reframe the narrative: Instead of “this is taking forever,” try “this is giving me time to prepare properly.”

While waiting for Amazon’s approval, I’ve been able to plan the launch (can’t make any promises on how it will go mind you!) and re-connect with potential readers who had already shown interest.

Use the buffer time: Delays often create unexpected space.

What could you prepare, learn, or improve whilst you wait?

I’ve tweaked my marketing strategy and worked on building some anticipation.

Trust the process: Sometimes delays can protect us from rushing something that needs more time.

Perhaps my book needed those extra tweaks, or maybe the timing will be better next week. 🤞

Focus on what you can control: I can’t control Amazon’s review process, but I can control how I spend the waiting time.

Channel that energy into the next step rather than refreshing your inbox every five minutes. (instead I have been refreshing every hour… Hey – that’s an improvement, right…?)
 

Your Turn

What are you waiting for right now that’s testing your patience?

A job response, a health result, a relationship decision, or perhaps your own creative project to come together?

Instead of letting the wait drain your energy, what’s one productive thing you could focus on whilst you’re in that in-between space?

Sometimes the lesson isn’t in the destination – it’s in how we choose to travel on our journey to getting there (coming full circle back to my old tagline of “company for your journey” – don’t you just love some synergies…?).

Hit reply and let me know what you’re practicing patience with.

I’d love to hear how you’re making friends with your own waiting periods.

With love and solidarity (and a lot of deep breaths) from the queue!

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If you are interested in grabbing your very own copy of “Snap Into Calm: Using Photography to Escape Your Busy Mind,” keep an eye on the usual social media channels @hkinnerpathways and the new @grownupadventure (Facebook) and @myGrownUpAdventure (Instagram).  And if you don’t already follow them – why not? 😲

As this post was published a week after the e-mail went out… you can get the book now: https://mybook.to/snapintocalm