I’m here in Florida at this writing and have had numerous occasions to watch a majestic white egret hunting along the shore of the small lake outside our lanai windows.  Egrets and their relatives, the great blue heron, are ever so patient as they stand watching the water for a sign of life below the surface, the sign of a tasty snack.  They are either statue still or move ever so slowly, sneaking up on their prey.  They are patient, not moving until just the right moment, striking in an instant to catch their snack.  Timing is essential.

Timing is important in the life of an egret, and I would say that it is important in our lives too.  We often hear, “I was there at just the right time,” or “My timing was right on.”   How did “right timing” happen?  Some would say that being at the right place at the right time is just luck.  But I wonder about that. . . . Perhaps it is an unseen, divine timing that puts us where we need to be for a certain thing to happen, to meet the right people, to take a different road to work.  Or maybe we, like the egret, carefully plan our steps, paying close attention to all the signals around us before we attempt something, decide to go to an event we really don’t care to go to, or choose a new route to work.  But then there’s our intuition, our inner knowing that might come into play.  Maybe, timing is a combination of all three, an unseen divine timing that orchestrates conditions for us along with our intuitive sense about the situation, and our attentive action to the signals coming to us.  Just maybe it is all three combining at the same moment in our lives.

I think that timing is all of the above, maybe each part to varying degrees, but all three.  So, I intend to watch my life more carefully, watch the timing, to see just what is happening when things flow easily for me to fruition.  I will strive to be like egret, patient and watchful, while seen and unseen forces bring all the necessary elements together.

Thank you, egret, for this lesson on timing.