the waiting game

I read a quote somewhere that said something like "if you wait until you're ready, you'll be waiting the rest of your life." That's what has actually gotten me to do a lot of things. It's a great thing to have goals and dreams but if you never take any action towards those things...what's the point?

I got a message today saying that I was likely wasting my time with this homelessness project because people are abusing the system and all kinds of jaded junk. The whole world is not bad. People go through bad times and don't know what to do. The system fails people sometimes, I know people who have what could be considered really good jobs, who still actually fall below the poverty line. Shit is expensive, and I didn't know how expensive until I moved out. Rent, phone, lights, water, car payment, insurance and then there are things like dentist appointments, laundry detergent and toilet paper. ALL THE BILLS. Plus buying food, gas and clothes. If something happened to me or my job, I'm lucky enough to know that I can go home. Others aren't so lucky and I think if I'm in a position to help someone then I should. I'm honestly just coordinating efforts and getting stuff together. I don't have a lot to give, I just know a lot of people who are good people. They just don't have the time or heart to go do this themselves, so they don't. That's okay, what I'm doing isn't really for everyone, especially people who argue that handouts don't help people. I watched an episode of What Would You Do? and for those of you not familiar with it, it's a big social experiment. They set up scenarios like a child being abducted to see what people would do. Everyone has a case of "someone else will do it", and half of the time nobody says or does anything. That show makes my blood boil because I couldn't hold my tongue.  But, I feel very strongly about some things and I guess other people don't care about their fellow humans or don't have the cognitive ability to imagine if they or a close family member were in that situation.

Also, if I had waited to do a weightlifting meet until I was "ready", I wouldn't have that bangin bronze medal on my wall. You're never going to feel ready, well, I don't think I ever will. I can't speak for the rest of America. You just do it, I mean how many people can say they've competed in a weightlifting meet? If nothing more, it's something to add to my arsenal of cool shit I've done. I've meet some of the absolute funniest, smartest and best people in the world. I've made connections with people I wouldn't have otherwise known, had it not been for lifting. I've learned to appreciate what I can do and work on things that give me trouble. I have a lot of issues with the way I see myself, and I don't see myself as doing anything extraordinary. I wanted to be a weightlifter, I found a gym, I found coaches, I practiced, I did a meet. I feel like that's the normal sequence of events. I have a soft spot in my wee little heart for homeless people. I made a plan. I talked to people. I have a date to go hand things out. Simple. I realized you don't have to have a degree to help people. So I'm coordinating my efforts with a few people and I'm going to give people the things they need. It's simple. Just do what you said you're going to do.

stop waiting, start doing.