It’s not uncommon that when I have an idea for an article, the idea will take awhile to turn into a finished product. I may not always be as patient as I should to appreciate this process, but I nonetheless understand that sometimes things take time.

What does admittedly get to me is when I hold onto an idea for an unnecessary amount of time–waiting for the “right” time, some fabled perfect moment to pitch the idea or post the article to my website.

Held back by concerns of wasting the idea, I choke off my output. And sometimes that perfect time never comes–now that’s waste. And/or I’m sitting on ideas that plug up my pipeline of work.

We’ve all heard “strike while the iron’s hot.” I’m learning the reality that the iron is always hot. Action needs to be a constant. Even inaction can be a productive action: sometimes you need to save something for later. That’s calculation, not hesitancy.

To stop to wait because you’re afraid to act, to then assume life will maintain that open window for that article idea or the inspiration for that Facebook post; that the person you want to ask out will continue to be there or that the opportunity to travel or work or have a special experience “will be there next time” or that “there’ll always be next year” isn’t (always) the case.

Because life is a moving target.

This reality of “trying to keep up”–with inspiration, opportunities, etc.–may come across as unsettling, but the fact is: life is change and motion. If you’re not regularly cleaning your home, dust will accumulate. If you don’t flow with life, you’re not in the rhythm of its song. Different parts of the world do play at different tempos, mind you. So find yours. And the flip side to being off-tempo is that when you’re in sync, life can unfold like clockwork.

Jobs, experiences, relationships come and flow.

Here’s a recent example: I was at the Minnesota State Fair on Labor Day, September 7. I saw a band with a great saxophone player and I shared it on Facebook with my buddy Willie who’s also a great saxophonist.

Later that day at the fair, I was marveling at the sheer number of people who came out that day. They call the Minnesota State Fair the “Great Minnesota Get Together.”

Indeed.

And within all these people, who do I see walking toward me?

Yep. Willie.

“Willie!” I say, “I just tagged you in a Facebook post!”

“Yeah, I saw that!” he responded.

“I also went on your Facebook page,” I continued, “because I wanted to know when your next gig was.”

“Funny you should say that,” he replied and pulled out a card for an upcoming performance. He’ll be playing with Soul Beautiful on October 3rd, and the other band that night will be Latin band Alma Andina.

Now of course, this is a rather simple, easy-to-accept opportunity. The chance to travel to a foreign country or the inspiration to create a work of art requires more effort and adjustment.

 

But I could hesitate to go see Willie this night–if I don’t find a friend to join or I don’t want to pay the cover charge or if I choose to worry about any other number of “more important” things I should be doing instead that night. In short, I can tell myself that there’ll be a better time to see my friend play, who I’ve been wanting to see for months.

But I plan to go on October 3rd, to take advantage of life’s movement to offer me this chance.

Clockwork like this invigorates me–to know that life will unfold as it should without me having to arrange it all. I hope there’ll be dancing at the concert. And I hope you can dance to the beat of your life’s tempo.