“Waiting is the Hardest Part” – Tom Petty

I agree, Tom, waiting sucks. So, why do we do it? I’m not talking about waiting for the bus, or waiting for a burrito, or waiting for your next paycheck. I’m talking about waiting for things we don’t need to wait for.

The idea of waiting for your ship to come in is ridiculous. If you’re waiting for your ship to come in, get the crap off the beach and start swimming! Go find the damn ship! Yeah, there might be sharks. Yeah, the water will be rough. Yeah, your arms are going to get tired. If you look for your ship, though, you’ll get there a hell of a lot faster than by sitting on your butt, supping coconut juice.

My life sucked! Like, hardcore sucked! I knew I had to stop drinking and getting high. I actually wanted to stop, too! I knew how to stop, but I kept waiting. Waiting to be caught. Waiting to lose it all. Waiting for a sponsor to knock on my door and say, “hey, I’ll sponsor you! I was just in the neighborhood and saw you drinking whisky in your underwear at noon. I kind of think you need help!”

A sponsor isn’t going to walk up to you. It just won’t happen. Let me repeat, IT WON’T HAPPEN!

I guess you can wait. Hell, I did. Here’s the thing, as I stood waited, I kept getting pushed and beaten by my own self-destructiveness. I was tossed around like a tree in a hurricane. I was beaten over and over again, but still refused to move from the path of the storm. Standing still and waiting left me vulnerable to hurt myself and I did. Finally, after a decade of waiting…

I stopped f**king waiting!

I got off the beach, dusted myself off and started to swim! Sharks nipped at my feet. Waves shook me back and forth. My arms felt like they were going to fall off. The water was cold, but guess what? All that crap? It made me stronger!

I went to a meeting and got a sponsor. I met him once a week. I never missed a meeting, not one! Then, eight months later, my life was 100% fireworks blasting, scream it from a mountain top, awesome. All I could ask myself was “why the hell did I wait so long to change?”

Waiting IS the hardest part, so don’t wait!