“…for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or a No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting . . . . “

“Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying . . . once more you’ll rise high! Ready for anything under the sky.”

-Oh the Places, You’ll Go!, Dr. Seuss

Waiting. We are all waiting on something. Someone in my Twitter feed made a post about ‘what’s your favorite Dr. Seuss book.’ It made me a little teary eyed to think of my answer. Eighteen years ago, as a high school graduation present, my mom gave me a copy of ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go.’ She took me my favorite bookstore. A place that still remains my favorite because it was the first bookstore my mom every took me to: The Readmore Bookstore. It only had a couple aisles of books, but to me it was paradise. My mom took me there close to the end of May of 2001, and it makes me sad to think we didn’t go back together before the store’s permanent closing. Mom bought me the book and, even though I was eighteen years old, we went home and my mom read it to me. I’d had a hard time in high school for most of the reasons people have hard times in high school and, in the times of my life when I need motivation or hope, I take the book off the shelf and read.

I feel writing, for me, is something I waited on far longer than I should. I guess we all get caught up in life and find ourselves waiting on a dream. No one is going to tell us when or how to stop waiting. We have to decide that for ourselves. Pick up a pen. Turn on your computer. Write. Stop waiting for the time, or waiting for someone to tell you that you are good enough. Maybe someone in your life has told you it is impossible. Impossible things happen everyday.

Even as I wait for a yes or a no, I’m not waiting to write. I keep writing. This blog. My other novels. Reviews for other authors. I keep writing. It makes the waiting place a little bit more bearable and keeps me from getting stuck.

Waiting. We spend so much time waiting. We get lost and take wrong turns and find ourselves thick in the forest, not knowing if we’ll find our way out. If you want to find your way out, stop waiting. It’s time to start writing and find your ready for anything under the sky.