Week 64 - "If you wait for the right time or the good times to start a business, you wait all your life" – Fran Tarkenton
As a 20-year-old student in college, I’m at an interesting point in my academic journey. My sophomore year is about to end, marking my planned halfway point through school. And although I would’ve thought I’d figured out more by now, I’m pretty content with where I’m at and planning to be.
But it’s unfortunate it’s taken this long. I have 3 weeks of school left before my summer break starts, and it only just feels like I’ve found a good rhythm.
Yet, as I thought more, it started to set on me that it’s probably going to always feel like this. That is, finally starting to figure things out and seeing things start clicking in your life might not happen when you want it to.
Consider meeting a potential partner during what seems like a bad time—you might worry about it being a missed opportunity. Understandably so, this fear primarily stems from the belief that we are at the mercy of timing and that success hinges on the "right time." However, if you can shift your perspective to understand that what you consider bad timing isn’t really that bad, and that perfect timing isn’t a prerequisite for success, you’ll expose yourself to a world of opportunities.
And all it takes is acceptance. If you can just accept that there is never going to be great timing for something, you’ll be much less anxious about the challenges life can create.
There’s always going to be a reason why something could be at a better time. You could get everything you’ve ever wanted, but if it happens at the wrong time, it might not feel right or be as fulfilling. But since time’s out of our control, can we really do anything other than accept?
There will always be arguments that some things could happen at "better" times. You might achieve all you've ever dreamed of, but if it's at what you perceive as the wrong time, it may not give you what you thought it would. But with timing beyond our control, what choice do we have but to accept it?
From now on, I hope to live life through that mindset. That timing is only a suggestion for when things should happen. And that it’s only through dealing with the reality of timing that you can truly be agentic about your life.
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