Timing is everything

So many things in our lives come down to the timing of it. The choices we make, the people we meet, and ultimately, our happiness, can depend on timing.

When I decided to leave college a semester early, I was torn because I had just started dating my boyfriend, and I had always said I would stay the full four years at college, to enjoy it for as long as I could. But I also hadn’t gotten a position I had wanted on the paper, and I felt it was part of what was urging me to move on to bigger and better things. I wanted to get started on the job hunt in DC as soon as possible, and not be one of the thousands of grads looking for jobs at the same time the next summer. In the end, it wasn’t fun to leave my friends and boyfriend, but I also got a job before my graduation ceremony in May, and was settled in while everyone else was rushing around worrying about grad schools and their first jobs. The timing now has only helped me, and of course now that all of my friends are out of college, that part of it doesn’t matter anymore.

My boyfriend and I didn’t start dating until mid-way through second semester of our junior year, even though we had been best friends since our freshman year. We used to talk about what would have happened if we had started our relationship earlier, but we realized that it might not have been the same as it is now if so. In that time, we had our own experiences: I dated around, focused on the newspaper and getting internships; and he traveled abroad and played intramural sports. When it was time, we knew we were ready.

When thinking about jobs and figuring out what I want to do with my life, timing figures into that as well. Timing affects when I might start looking for something else, and timing affects when I will move to a different city, or go back to grad school. Timing and circumstance have affected the responsibilities I’ve had at my job so far, which are much more than I ever would have imagined coming in. Within my first few months of starting, a colleague on my “team” left, as did my supervisor, and most recently, a colleague on a major project, leaving me to take on everything. Timing affected all of these things, and who knows how things might be otherwise.

When we are making decisions, starting or ending relationships, moving, changing jobs or changing lifestyles, think about the timing, but don’t let it overwhelm you. Things happen when they do for a reason, and in the end, the results are often better for the timing of it.

Is there an experience or life-changing event in your life that was affected by timing?