2. You Are Where You Are

If ever I’m running late, I think of something my mom would say:

Maybe if I’d left on time, I would’ve been hit by a bus.

A bit morbid and extreme, but it makes me feel better in any situation involving inconvenient timing.

Yes. This rationalization is a coping mechanism. But 1. coping mechanisms aren’t a sign of weakness, and 2. there’s a nugget of wisdom underneath it all.

I’ve recently come across language that names my feeling behind these “Maybe if…would’ve” statements: divine timing.

In the Inner Voice course mentioned in my last post, Lindsay Mack teaches that divine timing is:

• “the unfolding of the rhythms of life as they are”

• “an unfolding that happens when we are doing and living from the present moment in the best way we can”

• “about aligning or in some way practicing our willingness to be with the flow of time that’s unfolding in our lives”

And she says that divine timing is not:

• “everything happens in divine alignment”

• “everything happens when it’s supposed to”

• “everything happens for a reason”

You may disagree with some or all of the above. But here’s what I get out of those bullet points:

All we have is the present moment…
…which can be really agonizing and uncomfortable.

Maybe we can’t wait for the moment to end,
Maybe we want it to go on forever,
Maybe we want to know what comes next.

Wherever we are,
There is nothing wrong with us.

We don’t have to like it.
We don’t have to understand it.

We only know things as we are meant to know them.
Some things are unknowable—including anything beyond right here and right now.

And some things don’t have a clear reason:
suffering, injustice, systems of oppression.

But through it all, our inner voice is our ally and guide,
Inviting us back to the present moment,
Inviting us to be with whatever arises.

I’m deeply familiar with uncomfortable timing. It’s a daily occurrence.

I’ve just had a whirlwind 48 hours at work where I wanted more time to get things done. I’m following the Curly Girl Method to enhance my hair’s natural curl pattern, and I wish the tumultuous transition period would speed up (it’s a whole thing). In The Marketing Seminar, I feel behind because I’ve only completed 3 out of the 9 lessons released in the past few weeks. And I won’t even go down the rabbit hole that is the discomfort of timing in my romantic life.

But I am where I am.
And you are where you are.

We shall see how it all unfolds.