What “Timing is Everything” Actually Means
It isn’t cosmic magic or serendipity, either.
We always hear this saying, or at least some rendition of it. It’s often used as a coping mechanism when someone doesn’t achieve a given desired result.
- “Well, timing is everything.”
- “The timing was just off.”
- “What’s meant to be, will be.”
I’ve heard one version or another iterated in a range of scenarios, typically regarding anything from relationship struggles, to career missteps, to attaining personal goals, and more. I think its use is most prevalent in relationships, however, as most of us seem to think that the stars need to align in order for us to find the significant other of our dreams.
The fact is: it’s true. Timing is everything.
But not in the Hercules-meets-Romeo-and-Juliet-meets-John Cusack’s Serendipity-meets-cosmic-and-biblical-revelation notion that you’re thinking.
What “Timing” Actually Refers To
The Oxford English Dictionary gives two different definitions of timing:
- a particular point or period of time when something happens.
- the choice, judgment, or control of when something should be done.
