As a working mom and real estate business owner, a day in my life has never been the same. When my feet hit the ground in the morning, my entire day can be mapped out, only to be canceled before 9 a.m. due to delays in a closing, a house going under contract, or simply a buyer getting cold feet in this crazy market. Sometimes I have the leisure of drinking warm coffee, hanging out in yoga pants while running errands (perusing Target for “business ideas” for hours) while others I am dressed to the nines with back-to-back showings and listing appointments where the time disappears into thin air, and I wonder how it came to be 5 p.m. and I haven’t eaten a thing all day.
While it can be tough to manage, I do enjoy the variety that each day brings. To be honest, since I opened my own real estate brokerage in September of last year, I’ve been on the struggle bus of life, and sometimes it takes everything just to stay above water.
The other night, I walked in from work greeting my kids at 7:30 p.m. about 30 minutes before they need to be in bed and well on their way to sweet dreams. My husband was at an event, and my mom was bridging the childcare gap until I could get home. Honestly, the last thing I wanted to do was parent. My son asked to go on a scooter ride, and I obliged but with the condition that we would be skipping our nightly books. It was either the scooter ride or the book — no ifs, ands, or buts. We went on a quick scooter ride and talked about their day and then came back inside to take baths. While bathtime was going on, I got an urgent call from a customer in Japan (they are 13 hours ahead of us) who was dealing with an issue with their interest rate for an upcoming closing. I may have used the mute button one or ten times to yell at them to stop splashing and keep the water INSIDE of the tub. Needless to say, I was spent.
However, my sweet, convincing (truly manipulating) daughter grabbed a book off the shelf and begged me to read it. The book was Oh, the Places You’ll Go. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know the book I am talking about. I’m sure we’ve all done Dr. Seuss week at school where we celebrated his birthday, ate green eggs and ham, and participated in all the fun Dr. Suess things. To be honest, I’m not sure if I’ve ever read the whole book front to back. Typically, when my kids start to grab a Dr. Seuss book, I quickly redirect them to a “better” book. Dr. Seuss books are WAY too long, and the tongue twisters always get me. I’m not sure if I was just too tired to care or if the Holy Spirit was working through this moment, but I opened the book and began to read with my youngest in my lap and my oldest leaning her head on my shoulder.
“Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.”
“Except when you don’t. Because, sometimes, you won’t.”
As I read these words, it couldn’t be more true in my journey of life, and if we are honest, it’s probably applicable to all of us. We’ve all been through the ups and downs, indecisive moments, and “The Waiting Place” as Dr. Suess calls it, where we find ourselves questioning, waiting, lonely, unsure, among a million other emotions — but I am big believer that out of the uncomfortable comes beautiful things. “Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying.”
And just like anything, what goes up, must come down, and it’s true with the rollercoaster of life. There will be ups and downs and highs and lows, and that’s okay. Life is far from perfect! We will have wins, and we will have losses. We may get an A in math, and we may get an F in reading. We may get chosen for the varsity team, or maybe JV is what is in the cards this year. All we can do is try. My biggest takeaway from Dr. Seuss’ words of wisdom is to enjoy the good times as they come, and remember that when you are in “The Waiting Place,” better days, situations and circumstances are coming.
“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So… get on your way!”
So, what mountain are you setting out to climb today? The sky is the limit, so believe in yourself and don’t let temporary situations or “Waiting Places” tell you anything different!
