the waiting game

Photographed with Nikon D300, 35mm lens.

Lately, I've found myself in the middle of a gripping and unrelenting bout of the Waiting Game.  You know the game, right?  The one where you know all the things that you want to do -- the things that might actually change your life, the things that up until now you've only dreamed of doing -- but you have all these fabulous excuses about why you can't get started on them?  Things like:

"I'll finish writing my novel after my son starts going to school full-time -- I really shouldn't start now. I should wait."

"I'll cut my demo CD after I've stayed in my job for a year or two more.  Being a court reporter/an accountant/a nurse is far more practical.  I should wait."

"I'll look into university/online classes/a change in career after my daughter graduates high school.  The timing would just be better.  I should wait."

The horrible part of the Waiting Game is that, deep down inside, I know I'm stalling.  I know it's just a matter of making a list of all the major steps it would take to accomplish what I want to do, along with all my perceived obstacles, and then breaking down each of the major steps into smaller ones, and then breaking them down again, until finally, it just seems silly not to take the next, teensy, tiny little step forward.  I mean, with a step that small, what the hell am I waiting on?

If I could just focus on making that list ...

 

SongWaiting on the world to change by John Mayer