Trapped In the Bathroom

By Helen Huntsman

I was trapped in the bathroom.

Okay, “trapped” might be a little bit dramatic, but when you’re staring at the bathroom door handle, and you realize you can’t pull on it hard enough to open the door, well you’re trapped.

It wasn’t even a cool bathroom! It was kind of meh, to be honest!

This was a first for me, being trapped in the bathroom. Perhaps, even ironically (I’m always afraid of using that word incorrectly), I was trapped in the bathroom at a hospital.

There was no red cord to call for help, and I was in the midst of a physical therapy appointment. Ironically, I was in the place people go to for help, and I couldn’t be helped!

Little did I know it, but I was in the midst of a Life Lesson (capitalized on purpose) on the Law of Gestation.

Staring at that bathroom door, I had a quiet and firm realization. Out loud, I said, “Another woman in this huge building is going to have to go to the bathroom. She’ll open the door.

Eventually, I’ll get out of here.”And you know what?

I was right!

The Law of Gestation

The Law of Gestation is the idea or concept or “universal law” that everything arrives at the perfect time. If we’re working on something, a big goal or dream or milestone, it’s easy to create our own (false) timeline of when something *should* happen.

But the Law of Gestation tells us to trust the timing of our lives.

When I first learned the Law of Gestation, my teachers brough up pregnancy and carrot seeds to teach the law – but it just wasn’t doing it for me! I scheduled my deliveries of my 3 (beautiful) kids, and I’ve always had a talent with plants – things usually do happen on *my* timeline!

But then, stuck in that bathroom, I had my lightbulb moment.

Elbow Surgery

Being stuck in that bathroom, there was a “story behind the story.” You see, not only was I stuck in the bathroom – but I had a call with my HR department to discuss coming back to work. I had had surgery on BOTH of my elbows (spaced about 1 month apart), and I was supposed to go back to the office after 6 weeks.

I was on 8 months.

This was not the timeline I had planned on.

But being stuck in that bathroom and knowing someone would come, that I just had to wait and know it was coming, made the lightbulb go off in my head.

“I’ll be healed when I’m done healing,” I realized.

I had to trust the incubation period, the gestation period, even when my period of waiting was WAY different than what medical professionals had told me to expect.

Your Key Takeaway

I’m sure you’ve gotten stuck in some metaphorical bathrooms in your time, where a pretty small inconvenience makes the lightbulb go off in your head.

Maybe ths article will come to your mind when you realize you’re in the midst of learning the Law of Gestation for yourself.

I think the Law of Gestation is beautiful, because we wait and we work and we are steadfast.

We believe in the timing, we work towards our goal and we are steadfast in what we expect to happen.

We can do things on our end to “move things forward” (like my going to physical therapy), which is important. My point isn’t to wait around, it’s to trust that “everything has an appointed time” (Hidden Treasures by Leslie Householder).

Going back to the carrot seed analogy of my teachers (like Leslie Householder!), we don’t plant a carrot and then rip out the tiny leaves after a few weeks, demanding, “WHY AREN’T YOU DONE GROWING YET?!?”

We plant the carrot seed, take care of the soil, and know that the seed will grow into a carrot.

Every idea or desire we have has a gestation period. And it is our job to trust that gestation period, and not poke and prod at it “wondering when it’s going to happen.”

Our job is to plant the seed where the sun shines, water and weed, and know that things will happen.

I hope my experience helps you on your path, my friend. I’m rooting for you!

Best,

Helen Huntsman

Connect with me on Instagram at @PivotYourLife!