This is a picture my son-in-law took several years ago on his way to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota with some friends.
It’s an image that always brings a smile to my face and makes me think of the saying, “You had one job.”
Behind the light-hearted side of the image is a question. How far out in the road would this branch have had to be before the line painter would have gotten out to do something about it?
When does it become a big enough problem to deal with?
Over the last week I have heard a phrase three times that made me think of this photo.
The phrase is, “It’s just not the right time.”
Two of the times I heard it occurred on tv shows and the third was in a real life setting. Each case revolved around the need to reveal something to people but putting it off because “it wasn’t the right time.”
One of the tv cases involved someone needing to share with family members as well as employers that they were diagnosed with cancer. The person kept putting it off and those delays caused negative domino effects because they wouldn’t share the news.
The second tv case was failing to divulge news about a relationship that had developed between two people and they were unwilling to tell important people in their lives because “it wasn’t the right time.” Again, greater issues developed because of the unwillingness to move the branch.
The real life example I actually heard twice in the last week and have heard it multiple times over the last several years.
A man lost his job and failed to disclose this news to his wife for weeks because “it wasn’t the right time.”
Each day he got up, dressed, and left the house as if he was going to work delaying the inevitable and creating greater issues for himself as well as for his wife and their relationship.
I must admit to employing this “right time” strategy multiple times in my marriage as well as in my business life with customers.
In each case, after dealing with the issues I would always realize it would have been better to deal with it right away than to wait for “the right time” whatever that means.
With the branch I asked, “How far out in the road would the branch need to be before they would have done something about it.”
With a “right time” mentality we have to ask “when is the right time?”
In all of the scenarios listed above there never would be a right time.
However, there is a best time. The best time is right away.
The branch left a visible mark because of lack of action.
“Right time” scenarios don’t leave visible marks but they do leave an impact.
That impact shows up in lack of trust, broken relationships, lost customers, delayed help and support, and so much more.
Not moving the branch or waiting for the right time is a fear mentality.
This mentality is short sighted and will almost always cause far more harm than good.
It takes courage to deal with the issues we face in a timely fashion and head on.
Do you have any branches in your path today that you are driving around?
Do you have any issues in your life that you are waiting for the right time to share?
Break out of your fear mentality and have the courage to take those issues head on!
Proverbs 14:8-9
Have a STRONG and COURAGEOUS day!
Nice blog today….honesty and directness are just a couple of things that have been somewhat lost in our World lately. There always seems to be lots of “stuff” on the Internet that creates conflict for us in many different ways. My way of showing Courage is to just turn all this misinformation OFF, not forward things I feel are not right or fair, and to just Delete most of it.
Thankfully we have a God who is always open and available….we need to get back to trusting and asking for His help in these times of turmoil.