Timing is Everything

"Anxiety is extremely contagious, but so is calm." -Brene Brown 

I think that one of the greatest realizations that a 20 something can have is that timing is EVERYTHING. We need to learn to wait. We may never know exactly what we are waiting for, but we need to learn to be still and to calmly wait...something that is generally counterintuitive to my generation. 

Everyone is constantly searching for something. For me right now, it is direction for my upcoming job search and  love (duh). Also, the anticipation of the busyness of the coming academic year is pushing me towards August. What I know though is that I need to make myself calm down about it all. Do I want answers now? Yes. Does it give me anxiety to not know where ill be living in a year? Yep. That sure isn't helping me figure it out though.

I've done lots of thinking in 2013 and I've searched for ways to live in the moment...this moment...before it is gone (my New Years resolution). I need to realize what a blessing it is to be able to wait. To be able to soak in all of these moments because they are molding me into exactly who I need to be by the time I find what I'm looking for. That takes time. There is a reason we don't find our dream jobs at 20 years old - we weren't ready (and maybe still aren't). Rushing puts us in situations that are not perfect...situations that feel forced, that eventually make us feel lost and like we jumped the gun too quickly. Waiting helps us to weigh our options, to embrace what feels natural when we see it, and to remain happy throughout the process. Sometimes, it seems that waiting is a prerequisite to a fulfilling change. 

I will never claim that waiting is easy (ha!) but I've seen how much timing is key. The right moment, the right people, the right opportunity, the right place...they all appear at the right time. Even if sometimes it feels that life happens fast, my best decisions have come out of a period of waiting...this could be due to my reflective nature and need for ample time to make a decision (I'm still trying to decide what flavor to put in the coffee I had an hour ago) or it could be because waiting allowed for timing to take its course. I waited for my first job and I waited YEARS before deciding to pursue a graduate degree - turns out those were two of the very best decisions I've ever made. I've had friends wait for job offers...frustrated by the fruitless efforts of their searches only to get offers for their dream jobs just a few weeks later. 

Wait.

 Life will happen and pieces will fall into place at its own pace, regardless of how we think they should fit together. At the same time, this doesn't give us license to be lazy, although waiting is productive in its own way. So, here's to getting out there, doing something that may help indecision, and calmly embracing the wait. Let time be the guide.