Timing is Everything

"Life is all about timing... the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable becomes available, the unattainable... attainable. Have the patience, wait it out. It's all about timing.” ~Stacey Charter.

I have no idea who Stacey Charter is. Maybe some of you do, but I have no clue. This is why the internet is so amazing. I can type in something like "quotes about timing" and up pops this quote that will send me off on my random musing. I don't need to know who this lady is, I just need her words.

Life is a random, winding journey, with many factors pulling you this way and that way. I already discussed in an earlier blog about how small, innocuous actions in one's life can lead to major changes down the road. This is now fact, because it is in writing. However, when you take time to look at those little things in your life that are changing it's course, there is one overriding factor that has the biggest effect on the course your life takes, and is constantly overlooked. I am talking, of course, about timing.

Timing affects everything in life. Of course, you hear about the extremes all the time. There's the guy who was late to work one morning for his job in the World Trade Center...on September 11, 2001. There's the lady who missed her flight because of traffic, and that flight ends up in the Atlantic. Those are extremes. I'm not saying they're not remarkable stories, but they are definately timing affecting (and in this case saving) one's life in a very extreme and noticable way. But timing is always subtly at work in our everyday life.

Say you are driving to work one morning, and you hit every red light on the way there, and end up getting in 10 minutes late...where if you had left 20 seconds earlier, you would have hit every green light on the way and made it in on time. Timing has now affected your on-time performance. You're walking down the hallway at the exact moment your roommate, who forgot to shut their door, is walking out of the shower. Timing has now led you to seeing much more of that person than you had planned on. You never get sick, and then the one week you do is the week your backup at work is out sick, and you have to go in anyways instead of staying home and resting. Or how about this one... Say you lose track of time and end up going to lunch 20 minutes later than you normally do...and this is the exact same time your dream girl happens to walk into the restaurant you frequent and you and her hit it off? Timing could have a short term affect there (just a conversation) or a longer term affect (like, I dunno, a relationship).

"I love the idea of "the one" but I actually believe that there isn't a Miss Right. There are 12,000 Miss Rights out there and it's all timing." ~Matthew Perry

I think the relationship example is a good one, because of how much timing can affect things. There's plenty of girls out there that, (well, I'll use myself as an example), I could get along great with (probably). I'm just never in the right place to meet them. Part of that is me not getting out enough in random social situations, and part of it is my job (I work with 7 middle-aged and older men), but part of it is most likely timing. I was in college and I met some amazing girls, but nothing ever happened. Why? Either its because I'm a huge egomaniac, or the timing just wasn't right. Or maybe she likes to eat lunch in Campbell at one of my favorite restaurants, but I go to lunch at like 11:45, and she goes at 1. Not that I would know...but that's timing for you! Eventually the stars will align and I'll finally meet someone (in person) who just thinks I'm the bee's knees, and I'll think she's the cat's pajamas...and everything will be peachy! Sigh, I can't believe I just wrote that...I need to go like shoot some guns while lifting weights and eating a dead animal now to get some sort of manliness back. brb...

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OK, that's better.

One main example in my own life of timing affecting things in a way I could obviously see is when I graduated college. I graduated in December of 2006 (one quarter later than 4 years). It was right at that time, coincidentally, that the office manager at my dad's office was on the verge of quitting because she was awful. So, knowing I was done with school, my dad called me up and asked me to come in and work for a little while and help out. And I'm still here in this office to this day. If I had graduated in the spring, after 4 years, I may have found a job over the summer in Sacramento or something, and been in a completely different situation than I am in right now. This was an apparent example, but I'm sure there's plenty of other timing related things in my life that have lead to me being where I am today.

Timing applies to all situations in life; and its effects on your life, while not always obvious or readily apparent, can have far reaching effects on your life. Unfortunately, it is also the biggest thing in your life you cannot always control. Many outside factors go into timing, and why specific timing ends up leading down one life path or another. I believe timing is confused for luck sometimes, or maybe that is what luck is...I just don't believe in luck. It's an excuse. Timing, however, is something you cannot always control, but is always having an effect on your life.

What's the point of all this? Who knows. All good philosophers have no idea why they are writing about certain subjects, or what their point is. They are just pointing something out. That's what I'm doing here, pointing out the finer points of timing, and its effects on our lives. It's up to you to figure out what you now want to do with this information. Me? I'm going to go mess with timing every single day. Maybe I'll leave for work earlier one day and later the next. Maybe I'll stop mid-stride every 100th step I take one day, just to see what happens. Maybe some fucked up shit will happen, and I'll have something more entertaining to write about on this blog than the weird inner workings of my brain!

We can only hope...