Oh! The Low Places You’ll Go

I believe that we all want to be that person that walks around with a perma-grin on their face. We want to do great things for others and say, “Yes!,” to life.

But, even Dr. Suess was smart enough to inform children, that continuous contentment may not always be achieved. 

In the book, “Oh! The Places You’ll Go!”, he clearly spells out the pitfalls of this thing we call life.

“And when you're in a Slump,

you're not in for much fun.

Un-slumping yourself,

is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.

Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.

A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!

Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?

How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...

or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?

Or go around back and sneak in from behind?

Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,

for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused,

that you'll start in to race,

down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace,

and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,

headed, I fear, toward a most useless place...

The Waiting Place!

...for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go,

or a bus to come, or a plane to go,

or the mail to come, or the rain to go,

or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow,

or waiting around for a Yes or a No,

or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.”

All of you who know me well, know that I’ve recently landed in this so-called “waiting place.” Waiting for a place to live, waiting for a job to fall and even waiting for a guy to call. I was in that most useless place. 

But as Dr. Suess goes on, he gives us hope!

“NO!

That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape,

all that waiting and staying.

You'll find the bright places,

where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,,

once more you'll ride high!

Ready for anything under the sky.

Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!

There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.

And the magical things you can do with that ball,

will make you the winning-est winner of all.

Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,

with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.”

OK, he might have gone a little overboard with the fame thing. But, I did get to experience the most amazing thing while I was waiting. A Boom Band! My son, my brother, A, E, N, fellow Soldiers, supervisors, high school classmates, new friends, old friends...they were my Boom Band!

One of the Boom Band members, a fella that’s a bit of a wordsmith like Dr. Suess, even answered my call for help one evening.

“What’s going on? Let’s talk it out,” he said. I burst into tears and started listing all of the reasons why my life sucked. 

“Woe is me...I feel hopeless...I’m exhausted...yada, yada, yada!”

And then silence...”My car was stolen today,” he uttered. 

Boy, did I feel like an ass?

“But, we all do these things to ourself,” he went on to explain. “I chose to park in a place that my sister had warned me about.”

“But, why? Why do we do we do these things to ourselves,” I questioned. I knew that he wasn’t going to leave me hanging like that. 

As any good friend would do, he then picked me up and said something that I will always remember, “When the lows are so low, it makes the highs seem even better.”

Like my friend, all of the members of my Boom Band had their own problems. They all took time out of their day to show me love! 

In the October edition of Edge Magazine, I read an article about love by Lisa Venable.

“When you listen to and feel the presence of Love, you reclaim your inner power, and follow what makes your heart sing.”

So, out of the waiting place I emerged, thanks to my Boom Band showing me the Love that I couldn’t see. Now, I need to return this Love back to the universe!

But, how could you possibly do that, you might ask?

Well, I’ll give you all a hint.

My idea is inspired by Dr. Suess and involves glitter. I think that we can all agree that these two things are totally a combination for success, 98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed!

“On and on you will hike

and I know you'll hike far

and face up to your problems

whatever they are.

So be sure when you step.

Step with care and great tact

and remember that Life's

a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.

And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!”

Stay tuned to see what I create and how I repay the love.

Oh! And of course, how I keep smiling!