I've always loved Dr. Seuss, and specifically Oh, The Places You'll Go! I don't know why but I always feel like what's written in that book is always relevant to life no matter what age you're reading it at. It's inspirational for kids, but it's also somehow reassuring to read as an adult.
And then things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right
along.
You'll start happening too.
I've freaked out about being an adult before in this post so I won't go into as much detail, other than my "adult" life is somewhat figured out until March 31st, 2013. That date is starting to feel like my sanity's expiration date (that's the day my contract is over at Public Health Ontario). Needless to say I feel like I'm going to be spending the first few years of "adult life" flying by the seat of my pants trying to cling on to some semblance of sanity.
What they don't tell you is that when things start to happen they happen quickly - good quick and bad quick. One day you're drinking energy drinks and planning hangouts in a common room the next day you're looking at the most affordable car insurance companies and calculating the 4.99% interest rate on your car over five years. I honestly can say that I didn't like high school, and yet I miss it. I mean, it felt like the hardest thing in the world to get through, but you had one over-arching goal at the end of it: be an adult. When you were in high school there was drama and heartache, but for the most part (looking back) there was not that much to worry about. Then, you get to be an adult.
Some days are brilliant, other days the credit card companies, phone companies and stupid entitled people complaining about their "misfortune" because-they-finally-have-to-be-responsible-for-once-in-their-freaking-lives just get to you. You can't just go home and sit down to a dinner you didn't make. You have to suck it up, and go run those errands, pay those bills and be an adult.
The Waiting Place...
...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 the waiting around for
a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just
waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for the wind to fly a
kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their
Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a
pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just
waiting.
Now, this is where I feel like I am right now.
I'm just waiting. Waiting to see if I stay in Toronto, get to lease that horse I've been emailing the girl about, get a dog, graduate with distinction, get a job... The Waiting Place is one of the worst places to be, so I've found. I believe that most of that is because I'm generally not a patient person (just ask anyone who knows me), but mostly because they painted The Waiting Place with question marks...everywhere.
I also feel like being jammed in The Waiting Place I always end up dreaming these fantastic dreams and almost drowning myself in the pressure to live up to all of them. One day I'm moving to Timmins the next day I'm living in Toronto till March 31st. I have an apartment and then I'm living with a family friend - still not finding a place to live. It honestly feels like at this moment the only constant thing in my life is that my cat really goes nuts for Purebites treats and I'm still addicted to coffee. Not inherently bad things, just not very applicable to career/adult life.
Unlike Oh, The Places You'll Go! you can't always just make things happen at will. I've realised that it's really easy to just tell people, don't wait for things to happen - make things happen! But there's that spot in between the making and happening that feels an awful lot like just plain waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And holding your breath until it doesn't feel like your lungs can possibly hold enough air to sustain you and then being told you need to run a marathon amount of distance because surprise! Zombie Apocalypse.
Amid all this lack of oxygen-running-away-from-zombie-hordes-in-order-to-survive-and-prosper, good things happen. You realise that you have great friends, great family, a weird cat with awkward tendencies like needing to watch you pee and starting almost every morning by poking you in the boob and of course things that genuinely make it worth it to get up every morning.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent
guaranteed.)
All Dr. Seuss quotes can be found at this page.
