TIMING

I have long been fascinated by the concept of timing. Maybe it started, or I at least became aware of it, in my early adolescence.  I heard the lyrics of a popular song that had in it the lyrics, “ticka ticka ticka good timing, timing . . . it’s true, it’s time that brought me to you.”  Maybe not too profound, but it got me thinking—and got me a wife about seven years later.

Timing is not something that happens in a vacuum; it is hooked to something else.  A homerun is a moving bat hooked for a microsecond of time to a moving ball. A good (or bad) outcome is being in the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time.  My old car, later in my adolescence, would not run very well if my ignition timing was not ‘set’ so that the spark of the spark plug went off exactly when the piston was at the top of its stroke; a little bit ahead of time, or a little bit behind time would not give me the power the engine was capable of producing. Timing for a musician is absolutely critical if he or she hopes to succeed in an orchestra.

As you might guess, I learned from my early observations how to be a good hitter in baseball, a backyard mechanic in trying to keep my car running, a horn player in a band and a happy young man in timing it right with the right young woman.  It all took good timing.

Moving up from insights gained from a popular song in the late 50’s to a popular English author of the 19^th century to buttress my arguments, I turn to Charles Dickens: 

            “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us . . .” (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two  Cities ).

Though many would doubt it in this 21’st Century time of increasing catastrophes I would have to disagree with Dickens’ last line, “we had nothing before us. . . .” I would jump back in time to the apostle Paul’s encouragement to the Romans:

“. . . It is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Romans 13: 11-12).

In my fascination with timing I have come to some (tentative) conclusions.  These have not been tested by the scientific method or confirmed by authoritative pronouncements, but rather by some of my experiences of a lifetime of learning—here a little and there a little, observation upon observation,  line upon line, response upon reflection, trial upon error, faith upon hope . . . . These things bear upon good timing and therefore upon a positive outcome.

·        Cause and effect always come into play with result.  ‘Luck’ is largely an illusion.  You make your own luck; and luck is made of work and work takes time. 

·        You’ve got to slow down and really pay attention to what the situation shows to you if you are a patient, careful observer.  The answer or right approach is, more often than not, right in front of you. It may be veiled, but it is right there. If you are thinking about a matter still undone, the timing is probably now.

·        Learn the important principles that appertain to whatever you are trying to accomplish, and you will find they are connected to timing.

 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to [harvest]; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; . . . a time to get, and a time to lose . . . (etc.)” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

·        There are two sides to every coin (or opinion, or experience). Which side are you looking at?

“We need to be careful how we deal with those about us, when every death carries to some small circle of survivors thoughts of so much omitted, and so little done—of so many things forgotten, and so many more which might have been repaired! There is no remorse so deep as that which is unavailing; if we would be spared its tortures, let us remember this, in time.”

(Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist)

It is time that I end this.