Love this quote by Andrea Jung.
Just love it.
Do you all remember the magazine collages? I used to make them ALL the time. Slightly obsessed, actually.
I would spend HOURS, DAYS, even WEEKS creating the perfect collage- waiting for just the right word or phrase or picture to complete the ever-so-personalized creation.
Why do I bring this up?
Simple.
TIME.
This was a period in my life when there seemed to be an abundance of time( teenagers are so out of touch), and therefore a lot of waiting.
I wrote letters, LOTS and LOTS of letters. To camp friends, the many loves of my life, a sister at college, family…
And after I let the envelope slip from my fingers into the deep, dark mailbox on the corner, I waited.
And waited, and waited some more.
That’s all you COULD do!
I waited for phone calls ( I shared a line with my parents! Then eventually my chatty older sister… #stilllosing)
I waited for TV shows to finish… and watched commercials! Sometimes, REALLY awkward ones with my mom.
I waited for film I dropped off at the grocery store… and a week later, spent $10 on floor shots!
I waited for answers to my questions. And then I was told to look up the answer. In the ENCYCLOPEDIA.
Nowadays, we don’t like to wait.
I actually would dare to say we don’t know HOW to wait anymore.
And If we are actually forced to wait on something, we TRACK it.
We track packages on amazon… Heaven forbid it doesn’t arrive in 2 days…
We send emails, and walk around impatiently then JUMP across the room when our Hotmail dings, like we’ve been notified we won the lottery. EVERY TIME.
We have “read receipts” encoded on our texts-
“I KNOOOOOOW you saw my message… WHY ARE YOU INGNORING MEEEEEEE??????!”
but really….
What has happened?
When I read that earlier quote, I remembered, briefly, what it was like to drive in my own lane- and not get caught up in WHEN.
The WHEN concern is directly connected to the WHO.
We are naturally comparative, no doubt about that.
And it is even harder NOT to compare the WHO and WHEN in our lives since we are always in the KNOW.
And I’m not so sure that’s always a good thing.
If I knew of every party, breakup, and new outfit that went on during these “waiting” years, I’m pretty sure I’d be an even hotter mess than I was.
As adults, it may not be parties and break ups-but instead, it’s pregnancies, new homes, promotions, and so on.
It still hurts.
Because its NOT happening to us.
We tend to think it should make sense.
The fastest way from A to B is most certainly, a straight line.
And some people’s lives DO follow that course.
But not everyone’s.
Sometimes, Life goes more like C….F……A…..K……Z…..R…..B…..Q…back to C.
( just couldn’t help myself there)
And that’s okay!
It’s YOUR journey. No one else’s.
So what do you say?
The next time the thought, “HEY, why is/isn’t this happening to ME?” sneaks into your mind…
Picture-
Then-
And try…
Try to stay the COURSE, and turn your back on TIME.
Make it a good one.
Matthew 28:20