Time

The notion of “perfect timing” has been on my mind for the past few weeks. To be perfectly honest, the notion of time has been a concept on my mind for as long as I can remember.

From a rational, intellectual perspective, it makes sense. There are definitions that explain it. When I look in the mirror, I see the physical effects (because a five-year-old face no longer stares back at me, lol).

What I still yearn to understand is the feeling of time, of how sometimes it feels like it’s on super speed…and at other times at a snail’s pace.

Let’s frame this with an example.

For the past few years, I’ve been re-learning Korean with the intention of being fluent enough to embark on a return travel. In my mind, I created the marker of success at a 5^th grade level as a proclamation that “yes, it is now time to book that travel to South Korea!”

Alas, this is not where I happily proclaim, “I succeeded in re-learning my language of origin!” It is, however, the moment I happily proclaim that I finally booked the tour and flight.

So what is the point of this post, you’re probably thinking (if you made it this far)?

First, we have no control over outcomes – our role is to DO the work. No matter how hard we work, some of us will not achieve the marker of success. Depending on how dire the circumstances, oftentimes, “failure” is ok. “Failure” is an opportunity to learn and grow. Reframing a lack of success to “not yet” or, more likely, “something else” is something that has rung true for me.

In the case of my example, not reaching the level of fluency where I could feel comfortable getting lost in Korea is not catastrophic. What it does mean is that I need to pull together what I do know thus far and make sure it works for me when I am in-country.

It also means letting go of what a perfectly timed re-visit to Korea means for me. When I (finally) made this decision, there was a part of me that felt compelled to do so, as if an energy was prodding me in a not-so-subtle way that it’s now. Not the “now or never.” Just NOW. A push from the universe that could no longer be ignored. There were no parameters around my readiness for this trip. The universe insisted that I make the decision NOW.

Time felt “slow” as I was working to reach milestones of language proficiency. The moment I put down the deposit for the trip, time felt even slower – and faster all at once! Slower because the trip can’t come fast enough…and faster because now I had a tangible deadline to pull all my Korean language efforts to work for me when in-country.

TL;DR: there is no “perfect” time. How we experience time is our own perception. Time exists, but in a way that we mere mortals will never fully grasp. Time is our most precious gift and commodity. How will you choose to spend yours?

AI-generated image of the esoteric concept of time - light feel