Don't Wait! Patiently Persevere

"Maturity includes the recognition that no one is going to see anything in us that we don't see in ourselves. Stop waiting for a producer. Produce yourself." ~ Marianne Williamson

Did you ever picture yourself as you grew into adulthood as someone who would spend their days waiting? Did you ever think you'd find yourself doubting and hesitating and hoping someone would step in to solve your problems for you? Are you waiting for some handsome man to swoop in and sweep you off your feet? Do you expect someone else to fill your life with happiness and love? Do you dream of a hero who will help rescue you from your circumstances? Or do you persevere?

How's that working for you? Has it happened yet? Or are you still waiting?

Longfellow said "All things come to him who waits." What do you suppose he meant? Sitting quietly and twiddling your thumbs? I think he meant you should persevere in the direction of your dreams and chip away on them with persistence.

In Noah Webster's 1828 edition of his dictionary, the word wait has a definition that I think will serve us well here: 3. To rest in expectation and patience. He also defines patience as 4. Perseverance; constancy in labor or exertion. Put those two together for a practical way to proceed.

A young lady I know was once asked by her therapist "Who out there has a list where your name is at the top, and where your dreams are considered first?" She said that she didn't know of anyone. He replied "I urge you to make one for yourself."

No one can save you but YOU. Everyone else is living their own life, solving their own problems, pursuing their own dreams. All those fantasies mentioned in my first paragraph? That is your own SELF, urging you to become the person of character you so ardently want in your life. Become your own hero. Become your own problem solver. Swoop in and sweep yourself off your feet. Fill your own life with happiness and love! Delight yourself with your actions.

Don't wait to begin or to alter your journey of self-love, self-admiration, self-aggrandizement. How do you do this and not exclude others? Live a life of service. Begin to study yourself, and as you learn, share your understanding with others so that they, too, can learn to help themselves. Don't wait for anything to come to you. Get in there with a determination to work hard, to learn how, to live a full life and to help others do the same. You will be so blessed along with the others.

Life has its challenges. I'm not promising you a rose garden. But don't sit in your room waiting for solutions for your challenges. Read a book. Take a class. Join a group. Begin where you are and see if you can only see one step forward away from the waiting game. Take that one step. Begin to look for one more step. I promise you this: life will always show you the next step and the one after that if you will take that first step.

Waiting is a wasting game. The individual who you are and who you were meant to become cannot happen if you "wait." I love the story told about George Bernard Shaw, asked to speak to graduating writers. He strode to the podium in all his fine robes, turned to the audience and said "Those of you who wish to write, begin" and left the hall.

Begin! The universe will always say "Yes" if you start asking the question "How?" Don't wait for circumstances to become perfect. Do it now. You can Be the Change that gets out there, looks for your challenges, creates solutions for them, and becomes the greatness that is possible.

The only moment you have is today's right-now moment. How will you use it to act? Don't wait! Persevere!