“Perfect Timing”
“Meaning is the language of the soul.”
A couple of years ago I was told a story by a woman in her late 50’s. Her grandmother was a famous quilter who nearly 60 years earlier had made a quilt that had recently been found, unused, along with the original note her grandmother had written when she gave the quilt to a family with a new baby. No explanation was given as to why the quilt had never been used, nor what circumstances led to it being found. It was offered to the woman who excitedly accepted it, and from the note she determined that it was made the same year she was born. She had found a meaningful object and a life lesson. She began wrapping herself in the quilt each day and, in her words, “feeling the nurturing energy of my ancestors.”
This story touched me deeply (being touched deeply, by the way, is a clue that you need to pay attention), and illustrates the point I’m hoping to make in this reflection. There are all kinds of opportunities and lessons out there just waiting for us to notice them. But we have to be properly ready and willing to accept them in order to recognize their significance. For instance, the woman in this story told me she probably would not have accepted the quilt when she was younger because she held pain in her heart about the way she was raised. As such, had she come across it 10 or 15 years earlier (maybe even 6 months earlier, who knows), she might not have recognized its importance to her.
But it did happen when it happened, not nearly 60 years late, nor 10 or 15 years early, not even 6 months early or late. It happened right on time.
So think about how you look at the experiences in your life, how you find meaning in them. Do you see some as having happened too early, or others as having happened later than you like? Do you say things like, “Education is wasted on the young?” What happens to your thinking when you decide everything happens right when it should?
Take a final look at the object you chose this week. What were the circumstances that brought it into your life? If you look close enough at it, I bet the timing was perfect.
Link to Book: “My Grandfather’s Blessings”
Kind Living 