unrated games

I just started here on chess.com why cant i play a rated game? they are unrated only..what am i doing wrong..thank you cody

Depending upon whether you want to play DAYS per move (i.e. 'Online Chess') or SECONDS/MINUTES per move ('Live Chess') ...

PLAY -> Online Chess.

Start New Game (over on the right).

At the appropriate drop-down menu, make sure it says: "This is a rated game."

Or,

 PLAY -> Live Chess.

Click on PLAY LIVE CHESS (if necessary).

Make sure, in the dropdown menu, you select Rated.

You can also try to join a rated game created by someone else. But I think it should be possible to create rated games too.

ok I see thank you very much for the help..I am just getting my life back together a bit as my wife died 7 weeks ago to day and am just coming out of the shock...thanks again so much for the help and good luck to all in your chess games.

Sorry for your loss, codyblake. I hope indulging in chess and joining this community will help you gain some peace of mind after what you have gone through.

Good luck to you as well.

thank you so much..it feels good to talk to anyone right now as I have been down for 7 weeks..I belive getting back into chess will help a lot..thanks again everyone..this really does make me feel better.