Timing Is Everything

My colleague Li recently shared with me the tale of how he met his fiancée. The two dated briefly in college, remained in touch intermittently and now, 15 years later, are finally tying the knot. His story got me to thinking about timing and the idea that everything happens for a reason.

Four years ago, my first experience of speed dating resulted in a brief romance with British-born R. Being with R taught me the important lessons of paying attention to irreconcilable differences early on, and of not lingering in a relationship simply because you’re afraid to hurt someone. The five months I spent with him also led to something of a much longer duration – my career in public relations. A publicist himself, R acquainted me with the PR world. Four years later, I’m still smitten with it.

About a decade before meeting R, I connected with California native Mark during a location shoot for “NYPD Blue.” Over the course of many years and many encounters, I learned a lot about relationships from him but the biggest takeaway of all was a simple one—when you’re really in love, you feel it without hesitation and beyond measure. Mark also served the important purpose of introducing me to a gastronomic delight whose longevity in my life has surpassed that of any man—sushi. For that alone, I am forever in his debt.

Perhaps the greatest example I’ve experienced of fate’s purposeful agenda was the New Year’s Eve that wasn’t back in 2002. My high school sweetheart Hogan was supposed to come in from Toronto. Confusion about bus and train options from T.O. to New York ended up derailing his plans. Hogan ended up going to a party that night where he met the lovely woman who later became his wife.

Yes, at the risk of sounding like Sex and The City’s Charlotte, it bears repeating--everything really does happen for a reason.