The Wait

The backyard lemon tree.

When I was a kid, my favorite book was "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day". If you were raised on another planet, the gist of this story is a kid who has a myriad of small, but annoying, misfortunes on the same day. He has to wear the pajamas he hates. He gets the middle seat in the school carpool. His brother scores the toy from the cereal box. He squirts soap in his eye. After each hiccup in his life, Alexander threatens to move to Australia. In Australia, clearly, there are no bad days. In the end though, he learns from the people who love him that life is about perspective and that there are trials and tribulations everywhere, even in Australia. As a kid, the book made an impact on me. It made me laugh through rough times and remember that frustrating, sad days are just as common as happy, joyful ones. That's life.

February has kind of been a Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month. As an adult, misfortunes gravitate towards slightly more serious than not getting the prize from the junk food container. Career possibilities dissolve. People disappoint you. Cancer strikes your family. Hope disappears. Still, life is about the ride. The bad days with the good. And waiting things out is sometimes the best course of action you can take.

That's what I've done this month. I've been waiting it out. Waiting to see if my mom is healed. Waiting to hear about a new opportunity. Waiting for feelings to dissipate and drift away, so I can move on.

I know these things will come. If I keep my eyes open, an opportunity will arise. If I keep my spirits up, healing will occur in one form or another. And yes, if I let my heart heal, love will eventually spring up. Life will roll around and surprise me in a good way again.

Some days are like this. You just have to wait.