One of the things I've noticed is that timing is everything. My goals, dreams, desires have almost never happened on "my timetable" - they've fallen into place when I least expected them to. You've probably heard of the expression, "an idea whose time has come." Let that percolate in your brain for a moment or two.

The main reason my dreams have come to pass is because I've learned to trust that I am in the right place at the right time. Tip #9 in my article entitled "20 Ways of Looking at Life From a Different Perspective," says we are "life's perpetual trainee," always preparing us for what's to come. (If you missed that article, you can look it up under my name in the positive attitude category).

Even though I very much wanted to leave my job at the bank because of Harry (this is another article/story I wrote called "Harry, The Arrogant Bank Boss" - it's listed under the Inspirational category), I now know that dealing with him prepared me for future encounters with difficult people in all types of situations (aviation, business or personal).

Throughout my life, I've been repeatedly hit with the lesson of not comparing myself to others (Tip #18 in "20 Ways of Looking at......"). Everyone achieves their hearts desires at different stages. Comparing yourself to those you admire is like comparing apples with oranges. It's impossible - you can't do it. Doesn't make sense to.

Take my desire to publish a book compared to others as an example. Even though I managed to land a prominent literary agent five years ago, every publisher we approached turned us down. Of course, I was disappointed and ended up shelving the book project. Fortunately I was aware of the "timing is everything" philosophy and turned my energy towards aviation, knowing that I would eventually come back to writing again.

Well, here I am, writing through this website and picking up where I left off with my book project. I am now making yet another attempt, this time with more stories and more experiences to boot. In fact, my new editor just returned her revisions of the manuscript via email attachment a moment ago.

The point? If I criticize myself because I don't yet have a published book compared to Joe Blow, it serves to negate the belief that I am exactly where I need to be right now. My life's path is not the same as his. Everything that is happening in my life is laying the foundation for my greater work to unfold. Joe Blow's destiny is different from mine so why compare? Instead of beating myself up because I don't measure up to Joe Blow's achievements, I now spend time congratulating myself for having come this far and for how much I've already accomplished. Try it on for size - you'll be surprised.

In the aviation arena, when I made a decision to go for the instrument rating and finally did it five years later, I understood why it took so long. The universe needed to get me properly prepared for that achievement - not only did I start with private pilot's license but also went on to obtain the commercial certificate as well. In addition, I took the opportunity to fly several cross country flights, fine tuning my piloting skills and building significant logbook time in the process.

The biggest thing I want to impart with you is that when you truly make a decision, you really don't need to worry about the "how." When I decided to take up flying, I was not making any where near the kind of money I used to make on Wall Street. Therefore, I was faced with a financial dilemma. Since I didn't want to borrow or use my credit card, I felt there had to be another way.

There was.

Through a series of fortuitous circumstances, I was led to a very generous flight instructor who surprised me by offering to donate his instruction time. I still had to pay for the rental of the airplane but that was immediately solved when a position opened up at the very same airport. What's more, after I was hired, I discovered that I was eligible for substantial rental discounts. And then when flight training became progressively more expensive and I didn't have enough money to continue, a major speaking engagement would miraculously come my way. Never once did I have to put any of my flight lessons on a credit card - it was all paid for in hard cold cash!

Translation: When you are on purpose with your life, the universe will provide you exactly what you need to do your life's work. It's a matter of trusting the process.

Think about the possibilities that could open up for you if you pursued your heart's desires. This gives credence to the old but true saying that nothing is impossible. The universe will provide the right combination of people, circumstances, events to unfold at just the right time.

It's never failed me. Never.

Food for thought: Know you are in the right place at the right time in your journey. Be gentle on yourself and keep "buggering on!" (Winston Churchill's favorite quote).