They say that timing is everything.  I do believe that is correct on so many fronts, but particularly as it applies to relationships.  In relationships, on all levels, timing can often dictate not only the ultimate success of the relationship, but also the potential extent of the relationship. 

What is the difference between someone who becomes a friend and another person who may become more than a friend?  Sure, there are lots of factors to discuss in that loaded question, but if all things are equal – what role does timing actually play?

It is an interesting time in my life.  I am again single and I am coming back into my own (some might say with a vengeance).  I am happy and energized and ready to take on the world, but below the surface I have many a battle-scar.  I think battle-scars fade from the memory over time…time is said to heal all wounds (hmmmm, I think that is a discussion for another day).  At any rate, there is a matter of timing in play for folks who enter my life at this juncture…and in some cases the timing is just right and in others it isn’t.  I don’t really like that reality, but as my friend Mary would say, "It is what it is…until it isn’t." 

I have learned more about myself and the irony in timing over the past couple of months.  Specifically, I have come upon two situations that have blown my awareness wide open.  These two situations, although amazingly similar at the outset (in circumstances, not individuals), have taken two completely different paths in my life.  One that might have appeared to be completely ill-timed and fated for almost immediate extinction has endured and become something almost unpredictably special.  The other, which had all the hallmarks at the outset of being very special, has been subjugated to a back burner.  Two similar situations, two quite different results.  Yes, timing is everthing. 

In my recent journey I have discovered that there are some things that I simply am not capable of giving at this point in time.  I also discovered that there are times in life when a shared experience (particularly one that has been somewhat life-altering or psyche-damaging) trumps all other cards on the table.  Sometimes the timing dictates the need to be satisfied –  be it immediate safety and comfort or new directions and new experiences.  Sometimes the timing may even seem counterintuitive, but with my new awareness I have to believe the universe delivers to you exactly what you need – when you need it. 

As for the misfortunes of missed opportunities, well on that front I am hoping that good things really do come to those who wait (patience is a virtue right??) and that when the time is right I will be able revisit the potential of that opportunity…but really, who knows whether those stars will align again.  I guess it is as the song says, "Does anybody really know what time it is?" Speaking for myself I can say that I wasn’t fully aware of the intensity of the timing factor until I was in it and I recognized at that point that all that is left to do is to bow to it and acknowledge that timing really is everything.

Day three hundred and twenty-five of the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C