It’s funny how life can change so quickly. With just one single, seemingly small act, your entire life goes in a new direction. I have always marveled at this phenomenon, and now I am in the middle of one of these moments once again.
In my own life, there have been few “dime times” (i.e., turning on a dime), that have really been what I could call momentous. Obviously, leaving a failing relationship and moving across country comes to mind. So do the deaths of my brother and father by the time I was 23. The littler things, however, moving to a new place or starting a new relationship, are rarely dime times. Important, but they don’t really change your life in ways you could never imagine.
Some dime times are of your own doing. Others are thrust upon you. In this particular case, this dime time was self-inflicted. I bought a lotto ticket. Well, not a real lotto ticket, per se. That’s how I refer to major life changes that you initiate. “Time to buy a lottery ticket,” I would say.
The last time I bought a lottery ticket at this level I ended up in Florida. By now, you’re well aware that this turned out not to be a winning ticket so I won’t bore you with the details. If you aren’t privy to that particular tale, search the previous blogs, it will pop up.
Back to this particular dime time. I can’t really talk about it today, at least with any specificity, but I can say that it may be time to turn on it.
I only know this because of all the signs that have occurred in my life since last fall. Ever since the tumblers have begun to align in ways I would have never imagined. Doors that were previously closed burst wide open and doors that had been wide open suddenly shut tight.
I think this happens in all our lives. The only problem is that we sometimes just can’t admit a door is shut and we want to force it back open. And while we are busy trying to break in, we miss the opportunities for change that will truly take us in a new direction, one that could be better than we ever imagined.
In my youth, I was certainly guilty of that. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to open a door that should have just remained shut. I wasn’t always successful, but when I was, it almost always turned out to be a huge mistake… the old one step forward, three steps back problem.
I think the most amazing thing about dime times is you know exactly when they happen. Yesterday, mine was about 12:25 p.m. Yes, they are that noteworthy. You never forget them. And they change your life forever.
So, I stand at a dime time and I need to decide if I want to turn on it. In the past, I would try to will my way to the turn in the direction I really, really wanted to go. A “damn the torpedoes” kind of decision making process.
But over the last two years, I have learned an important lesson. I have learned that the answers will come to you. You don’t have to do a damned thing either, except to listen to the universe around you (and buy a lottery ticket). It will tell you what the answer should be. Just be patient enough to listen for that little voice (no, not the ones that are in my head), and the answer will come.
I only wish I had known this a while ago. Instead, I would fill my head with nonsense, often delusional nonsense. I would be overwhelmed with scenarios that could never possibly happen, or if they did, they wouldn’t be anything like the ones I had let my mind be consumed with.
Now, I listen in calm. Sure, the variables continue to play out in my head, but I’ve learned that none of the details really affect the dime time itself. In other words, everything that has to happen after the turning point is set is unessential. They are merely distractions, and these distractions can lead you down the wrong path. In fact, they can lead you to disaster.
Certainly, that was the case in my last dime time. I was so consumed by scenarios and possbilities that I didn’t put any time into actually considering the gravity of the dime time and really appreciating it.
Change is part of our life. We have no control over much of it. It’s the old John Lennon thing, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making plans.”
I can tell you though, that dime times can be the most defnining times in your life. Don’t be afraid of them. Relish them.
And know that one of the best outfalls of them is that everything else that was bugging you at the time – the people who were pissing you off, the work that was pissing you off, your neighbors, your exes… none of them matter when a dime time comes. It is such a freeing moment.
I know. I was about to let loose on a few people I know about some things that were really bothering me. Today, I could care less about any of it. In this single dime time, none of it matters. It is already becoming a thing of the past as it has nothing to do with the future the dime time created.
So, folks, don’t sweat the small stuff. Keep a weather eye open for the dime times. Don’t be afraid of them. Realize that change can be a good thing, even though it scares the hell out of you at the moment.
As your beta tester of change, I can tell you that it is a very worthwhile thing.
In the Emerald City, with a lot of loose change in my pocket, trying to find that damned dime,
— Robb