Timing

Timing is everything. At least that is what they say. I have always had a fascination with time. An artificial horizon that divides the past, future, and right now. Artificial in the sense that man (or woman) could have divided up in really any way. The fact that we have so many days in a year, or days in a week, or even minutes in an hour is somewhat arbitrary. Nevertheless, whatever has transpired is in the past, and what is yet to come is completely up to you.

This is where the concept of timing comes into play. What do you decide, and when should you decide it? Two fairly simply questions that can have huge ramifications on your quality of life, health, financial position, and overall future. For me, timing has worked out fairly well in my professional life. I have been able to work on interesting projects, learning very cool technologies, and work with fun and brilliant people. Other aspects of my life haven't always worked out so well. For example, I bought a car once because the one I had needed a lot of work and I didn't have any money. At the time it was literally cheaper for me to buy a new car than get the one I had fixed. Of course, I ended up hating the car I bought, and 5 months later went out a bought a new version of the one I originally tossed out. In the end, this whole episode ended up costing a lot more than getting the original version fixed.

Of course, as time passes your life is constantly changing. The number of variables that help you determine your course of action when answering the questions above change, and in fact are almost always in motion. These changes can have a profound impact on you as a person. For example, once you have a family decisions don't just affect you anymore. Perhaps the chances you take with regards to work can't be as risky. Not only in terms of financial issues, but in terms of your health and well being. This includes your quality of life and your ability to balance work life with family life. As you age you start to worry more about your physical health, getting ready to retire, getting your final wishes in order, and hopefully ensuring that you have no unfinished loops to close with friends and loved ones.

So, the complexity of all of this is how do you make the best possible decisions, at the most appropriate time? Chaos theory and non-linear equations would dictate that you can't determine an optimal time. Is this true? Are we really out of control in some respects all the time? Can't our sub-conscious help tell us when we need to act, and in what direction?