On Thursday, September 15th, an opportunity of massive proportions fell into my lap. Within 24 hours, I had made a decision and flights were being booked. Life had happened.
Life happens fast--except when it doesn't. In a world that has grown increasingly dependent upon instant gratification, it can be enormously difficult to experience anything but.
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With constant social media use, instant communication through text messaging, and the ability to "google" any answer we can't conceive ourselves, we've been spoiled with continual access to "the answers." We've begun to expect immediate responses, not only from peers, but from life.
The moment we feel that trickle of uncertainty creep into our lives, we demand the conclusion to our "what if's." What if I don't get this job? What if I don't meet the right person? We wait on bated breath for the proverbial three dot iMessage to appear, indicating our counterpart is replying; life doesn't always respond in the way we want. It takes time, patience, and faith--all things that our society seems to neglect nowadays.
However, on Thursday, September 15th, life finally responded.
On a simply happenstance, I mentioned to a woman that I had the aspiration to work for Doctors Without Borders one day. She, in turn, questioned whether I had gone on any type of extensive service trip, to which I answered in the negative. Her response was, "What are you doing next month?"
In a matter of moments from the time I happened to mention my desire to travel and aid others, to a woman who happened to be going on a service trip the following month, in what happened to be my gap year, with others who happened to be booking flights the very next day, I was suddenly caught up in a whirlwind of planning a trip to Cambodia. I now had the opportunity to work alongside dentists to bring dental care to an orphanage when less than 24 hours prior, my most exciting plan for the future was to eat the cold pizza sitting in my fridge.
The most ironic part of this is that sitting at home, on an old dingy white board, my gap year goals are written in bright fluorescent orange. While others have since been crossed off, two glaringly obvious ones have remained untouched:
Partake in a service trip
Go to a new continent/country
I've been waiting for life to hand me all of the solutions, seeking them out like a ravenous bloodhound, but I haven't actually ever stopped to listen for the answer.
The thing is, life happens exactly when it is supposed to. It doesn't rush itself for your convenience. It doesn't slow down for your pleasure. Life happens in the very moment, at the very place, in the very time that it is meant to. Neither you, nor I, nor anyone in this world can command time. All we can do is sit back, wait, and have faith that when the moment comes, we have the wisdom to recognize it--and the courage to seize it.
