tonygrebmeier

I was supposed to be born early October, 1972, but I actually wasn't born until October 15th, 1972. My mom and my dad went to the hospital expecting to bring home a baby. At the hospital, the doctors said, “sorry, it's not time”. They handed my mom a potted plant, rolled her out and they went on their way. Some weeks later I arrived… throughout my life, my mom has told me that story.

My wife and I went to the hospital expecting to bring home our newborn baby. We had picked out his name. We thought we were ready but they said, “sorry, you're not ready yet”. I was waiting for them to hand us a potted plant, but nope. They didn't have any. Some things do change over time and some don’t. No potted plants but they did just send us home…

A couple of days later, Braxton Hicks started happening, contractions, etc. We went back to the hospital. They looked at us and they said, “not ready yet”. They sent us home again. A couple days later, my wife is in a lot of pain. We go to the hospital. Again they say, “you're not ready yet”. I told them we’re going to have to figure something out because I knew we were definitely ready this time. Long story short, they figured something out. We waited an additional thirteen hours and then our son arrived. I've always thought of that story that my mom shared about how I came to be and the story of how Ethan came to be, as a great lesson.

I could have been frustrated and pissed off and confrontational with the nurses. My mom could have been angry about waiting for me. Getting upset wouldn't have helped me or my boys arrive any faster. It's a timing thing. Slow down. Enjoy the journey.

So much of life is about timing. It's not on my time. It's not yours. In my belief system, it's a power greater than ourselves. It's whatever you want to call it. For me, It's God. Life is on his time. We can do everything we want, but it's not going to be ready until he’s ready. If you put something in the oven and the recipe says cook for twenty-five minutes at four hundred and fifty degrees, it may not be ready depending on where you live in the world, elevation makes the recipe change. Patience and timing are deeply important.

I've had to learn to become patient. It's not something that I'm good at. I remember being in school. The teachers would say, “There's something wrong with Tony. He can't sit still.” They were trying to figure me out. I've been trying to figure out myself, my entire life. What I’ve learned is that the moral of the story is its timing. You can't rush life. You can't make it happen faster than it's supposed to because you may miss something that you need to apply.

You didn't create time. You can't manufacture more time. Watch the time you spend on things that really matter. And the things that don't matter. Let those things go. Trust yourself. You have inside of you, greatness. You are phenomenal. You have all the potential. You have the ability to achieve anything. Just learn to take your time.

Here are three takeaways:

1. It's not on our time.
2. It's ready when it's ready.
3. And there's nothing wrong with waiting.

As you wrap up this lesson, take some deep breaths. Meditate through the moment. Know that everything will be okay. Being a father taught me that you gotta be present in each moment. You can't get any of them back. So until next time, no matter where you go, no matter what you do… choose to make this moment matter more than any moment. Regardless of how far you've come and regardless of how far you're gonna go, this moment matters most. Pick up the phone and call somebody today. Tell them you love them.

Until next time, make today the absolute best day of your life.

Thanks for listening to today's show. Before you go, let me ask you a question. How would you like to be the architect of your journey in this game? We call life. Take the next step. Head to the free Be Fulfilled Course to get the first week of the Be Fulfilled Journal for free. It'll give you more clarity and freedom in your day, and it might just change your life forever.

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