Stop Waiting For The Right Time

It is happening now

Photo by ZSun Fu on Unsplash

There are a few things I’ve been planning to do … when the time is right. From connecting with an old friend for a catch-up call to working on my first novel, I have been waiting until I can carve out a chunk of time.

You know that feeling right? That friend you want to call, but it’s never just a 10-minute conversation — so you wait and you wait. The days pass. Then the weeks pass, and you still haven’t reached out to that buddy. Your intentions are great: You need quality time to dig in and get past the surface talk.

Or that project you want to start around the house, which will require days to complete … You’re waiting on that, too, aren’t you?

So, what is happening as we wait for the right time to come along? What is happening to my book ideas that are just roaming around in my mind? What is happening in my friend’s life that I am unaware of right now?

One of My Favorite Words: NOW

I espouse often on the concept of “now.” Of course, it is all we really have.

That African safari I dream of taking in the future is just that — a dream. There are no plans. That is not part of my reality.

That book I want to write and the characters I have been developing. They are stuck and are unable to breathe. I have not birthed them. I have not even written the first paragraph.

So many of us do this. We wait for the right time for something. We wait for the special occasion to wear something. We wait for a bulk of time to do something. We wait until we have more money or freedom to take that trip. This is often human nature — that idea that the time spread out before us is vast and is better.

We imagine that time to come with more freedom and with less interruptions. But, then life happens. Someone gets sick. Life actually gets harder instead of easier. All the while, that subtle second hand on the clock keeps going around and around and around.

“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.” — William Shakespeare

Waiting for the right time might result, as Shakespeare said, in being too late.

Pick Up the Phone

“Hey, cuz — I only have eight minutes to chat,” I said after I heard his joy upon answering the phone. “I know we need a block of time, but I didn’t want to wait.”

It was enough. The scarce minutes were enough. He was happy to hear from me, and I was happy to connect with him. We didn’t have time to do our usual soul-searching and philosophizing, but we did have time for that feeling — that feeling that someone you love is thinking about you. That feeling that someone just gets you.

When I hung up, I realized all of the opportunities like that one I have been missing. While I wait for the right time, life keeps happening. The hours keep flying by. The days keep passing.

While I have always lived my life for today, without certainty of tomorrow, I realized that philosophy isn’t really aligning with some of my actions. Why not embrace those few minutes I have today? Why pause until tomorrow or next week or next month?

It’s so tempting to put off doing things until the time is right. We must really remember that the right time is often right now.

“ ‘Someday’ is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you.”  — Timothy Ferriss