Don’t fall victim to “It’s not my time”

(Note: I wrote this two years ago, but I feel the sentiment is more important than ever.  Carpe diem!)

Our 10-year-old daughter, Ava, learned how to ride a bike without training wheels this weekend.

Wow, you might be thinking.  She’s just now learning?  Why did she wait so long?

And my answer would be this:  Because it wasn’t yet her time.

The older I get, the more comfortable I have become with the idea that some things in life shouldn’t be forced.  Just as Orson Wells famously refused to sell Paul Masson wine “before its time,”Ava chose not to learn to ride a bike before her time.

This is a concept that confounds many Americans.  We’re generally a society of go-getters who like to push the envelope.  We make things happen.  We created our own independence.  We explored an unknown continent, laid railroad tracks across it, and created a superpower.

In 1961, our president challenged us to go walk on the moon, and by golly, we did!

But in my view, things don’t happen before God deems it to be so, and I would argue that it was the moon’s time.  That swirling mixing bowl of politics and technology resulted in a batter that cooked into a perfect moon pastry.  The moon said, “Here I am,” and Kennedy said, “Here we come.”  (Since 1972, the moon has apparently decided, “OK, that’s enough,” and we haven’t been back since.)

For me, it’s sometimes hard to come to grips with God’s schedule.  There are things that, at the ripe young age of 46,  I beat myself up over.  Why didn’t I work harder as a musician?  Why didn’t I work harder in college?

And the biggie:  Why — oh, why — didn’t I start exercising and eating right 20 years ago?!

Because, Dummy, prior to 2010, it just wasn’t your time.

Or was it?

Maybe we should consider the possibility that the “It’s not my time” phrase is actually the ultimate cop-out,  or as my eldest son would say, an “epic fail.”  Have you noticed that the things usually falling victim to the “It’s not my time” theory are almost always difficult and require some work and discipline.  Nobody says “It’s not my time” when faced with a pint of Haagen Dazs ice cream, do they?

Hey, Frank!  How about a big fat bowl of this white chocolate raspberry truffle?

No, thanks.  It’s … it’s just not my time.

I’ve also noticed that people often are “not ready” for tough things.  They’re not ready to start working out.  Or to start forgiving their enemies.  Or to start reading their Bible on a regular basis.  (I’m including myself in some of these accusations.)

The world, it seems, is neither “ready” nor has the correct “timing.”

I know that I must also come to peace with the fact that, for some of my loved ones, their time will never come nor will they ever “be ready.”  For example, as much as I know with all my heart and mind that exercise and clean eating is the right answer for everyone, I also understand that only a tiny sliver of a percentage of my friends and family will embrace this fact.  For a few people I know, the moment has passed.  The proverbial helicopter with the hanging ladder was agonizingly close — all they had to do was reach out and grab it — and they let it fly away.

So tonight, I offer up a challenge:  If you know — in that way-deep-down, private area of your heart — that you are ignoring what’s right because it’s difficult, uncomfortable, or inconvenient, set aside the excuses while you still can.

Jump on the bike and start pedaling.  You’re ready and it’s your time.