Do you ever just sit and wait for a sign? Whether it’s something big or small, I always find myself asking if something is meant to be. “Okay world, if this is supposed to happen, give me a sign… any sign.” I look up in the sky. What am I looking for? A shooting star? A burst of thunder? A gust of wind?

A sign. I have not a clue what I’m even asking for, and I have no idea what I’m looking for—but I’m looking for something.

Slowly and slowly, I stopped asking for signs. I would sit in my bed staring at the blank walls, asking for a sign that he loved me or everything was ok, or someone was thinking about me too. I found deafening silence in those wondering seconds, where I was looking for something that was unknown to me. I forgot in minutes about what I asked for, moving on with the situation, hoping destiny would soon step in.

I leave way too many things to fate and destiny and honestly, I don’t know if I want to anymore. I spend way too many hours telling myself that if something’s meant to be it will be. I think sometimes we say that to just let ourselves sit back and do nothing. We let things happen to us instead of making things happen to us.

Do I believe in fate and destiny and all that? I do. I’ve recently realized, though, that so many times I have let situations pass and not happen how I wanted them to because I waited for a sign. I’ve waited for signs to tell someone I love them, and I’ve waited for signs to tell that same guy he was treating me wrong. Spending time waiting for a shooting star made me helpless. I waited and waited and did absolutely nothing when I should have just told him what I was feeling.

Okay, so then let’s think on the opposite side of things. Sometimes I would get a sign when I asked for it—a certain song playing, seeing a person in a place, or an actual shooting star. But what if that sign was supposed to be for something else?

What if you asked the world: “should I tell this person I love them?” and something in your room fell off the desk, making a loud sound. So you take this as the sign you were looking for—this means tell him you love him! Wrong. What if this is the world telling you “hell no, STOP. He is absolutely no good for you!”

What if we misread the signs the world is giving us?

The world works in mysterious ways, I’m just not sure if we should be calling for and relying on signs anymore. It’s just a way of avoiding and dealing with problems head-on.

So if you’re waiting, looking for a sign- here it is. Tell that person you love them, go accomplish that dream, go find that part of yourself you left behind, tell that person they aren’t treating you fairly. Instead of waiting for something to be, make it be.

Destiny may hesitate, but you can surely make your life your own without some sort of sign telling you how to act. I believe in fate and destiny, but I also am starting to believe in me. I believe I am smart enough to decide for myself how I handle the situations the world gives me.