Emergent sense of timing

Without reflective practicing, we realize no sense of timing. We may have a sense of urgency or panic, but not when to act, wait or take more time. We usually feel too desperate to take any time out to reflect. Without a sense of timing, we may "jump the gun" and do too much too soon. We might do too little too late and "miss the boat". When we're in a big hurry, we can miss out of an easy solution in a big way. In hindsight, we may regret our lack of timing "big time".

A sense of timing does not come about from analyzing a situation or worrying about it. Our thinking can only go in circles when we're in a panic. We rehash the same details rather than gaining new insights. We are going over what we know rather than appreciating the unknowns. We strengthen our convictions rather than nurture our curiosity.

When we call a time out to reflect on the situation, we calm down to reconsider what we know and don't know. We disrupt our certainty that claims we are on top of our situation. We see there are gaps in our understanding and questions that remain. We grasp the limits of our comprehension and the mysteries that lie beyond our understanding. We formulate new questions and entertain new possibilities. We can consider slowing down, speeding up, waiting to see what develops or giving it a break to come at it with a fresh perspective.

When we chill out to reflect on our situation, we open up to insights and intuitions. What comes to mind get characterized as "coming out of the blue", "dawning on our minds" or "hitting me like a ton of bricks". Previously, I've compared this process to a laptop going online to access a vast server farm of hidden resources.

This suggests that reflective practicing is very different from thinking, analyzing or worrying. We need to catch ourselves going in circles that never yield a sense of timing. We cannot make the sense of timing happen like we can think an issue to a logical conclusion.

Our sense of timing emerges from a process of reflection. We include the mystery, unknowns and openness to surprises with our inventory of facts, incidents and issues. We allow for the sense of timing to come to us and appreciate it when it comes about.

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