Timing is Underrated

I was thinking about this while playing pin ball in Portland the other night. (I forgot how much I love this game, by the way).

Some would say it’s a game of luck and the ball will take you wherever it wants to go on its time. Which I can’t disagree with. The ball does have a mind of it’s own and just flies all over the place before your eyes can even catch up. However, there is strategy within the times you do manage to control the ball.

You know the flippers? The little hands at the bottom that you’re pushing to hit the ball back up? Yeah, those are called flippers. I originally guessed ‘flappers’, but my dear friend Eva is quick with Google. If you time the flipper to hit the ball is hit in just the right spot, it will reward you with extra balls, more points, and additional turns. In addition, the ball gets brought back to you so nicely for your next hit. It’s a win-win. Plus, the board will light up and do a cute lil celebratory light show – what more could you want? So when people claim pin ball is strictly based on luck – I let them know they just haven’t been introduced to the strategy of timing. You gotta hit the balls just right in order to truly score.

😉

I understand why timing isn’t the focus of pin ball for a lot though. Ultimately, the goal of the game is to keep hitting the ball back so it doesn’t go past your flippers. It doesn’t seem like there would be that much depth to the game.

But what a lot of people don’t realize is that when you’re just flapping your flippers all over the place in hopes that it ricochets the ball back up… there’s no type of aim, control, or directional awareness of where the ball is going. Sure, the ball goes up – but there’s no telling where or how it will come down. Then that means the flippers only go even more crazy! If you at least aim and time the ball towards certain areas where you know there’s a possibility to score a skilled shot, typically those areas deliver the ball back in a cleaner way and you’re set up for success for the next hit. If you fling the ball all over the place it usually is flung back at you at a really dramatic speed that you can’t always defend.

Practicing playing with timing is beneficial in pin ball.

The area where I agree that luck may be involved, is when the ball goes down the little side tube under the flippers. I absolutely despise those slots. You can’t defend yourself there, there’s no possible way. The flippers only go one direction, there’s nothing you can do about it. That’s the part where I’m like… well… there’s no strategy for that one.

That’s how I feel about life. Life is one big game of pin ball.

There are times when stuff is just thrown at you and there’s no way to defend yourself. You just have to take the L as best as you can and prepare for the next hit. And while sometimes things are hard to get under control, you can grab pieces of control here and there by watching your timing.

Just like in pin ball, we all want to score. The goal is to keep ourselves afloat and live our best lives. However, sometimes we start grabbing for things that we want but that we may not be ready for. Just like flapping our flippers in hopes the ball will bounce back – we all want to do that, but it’s not always the right time if you want rewarding results.

Timing is an underrated strategy that plays an impactful role in our lives.

(Not to be all preachy), but I think if we paid a little more attention to intentionally living our lives as what fits best for us in that moment – timing would naturally work better in our favor. Just like the pin ball, if you watch it closely and act accordingly for each hit, you’ll be rewarded in how the ball is returned.

If we live our lives with more intention and attention to timing, we may set ourselves up even more for success.

I’ll go into one example and I’ll leave it at that. My entire life I knew I wanted to work in entertainment, and I knew I wanted to move to LA. I didn’t know exactly how I would get there or what I would do, but I knew that’s what I wanted and if I timed everything appropriately, it could work in my favor.

Initially I was looking to move right after high school. I wanted to go to Santa Monica Community College until I could figure out where I would go next (there’s no way UCLA was letting me in with my ACT score… if only they met my charm). As I was college shopping, it just didn’t feel right to go to CA at that time. Of course I wanted to, there’s really nothing I wanted more, but it would’ve been very forced and probably 10x more difficult.

I ended up going to Illinois State, where I still had the same dream but was going to utilize it by interning in CA my junior year and hopefully gain a network that would allow me to go back once I finished college. Now, while I knew that was my goal, I wasn’t focused on it the entire time. I did what I needed to do in college to survive and gain good experiences – get good grades, work to pay my bills, say yes to any extra curriculars, and make amazing memories with the people I met.

Junior year was kicking off and it was time to start looking for internships for the following summer. During the middle of first semester I met someone at a seminar at ISU who later ended up being my first connection into the entertainment world. Now, 5 years later – I’ve lived in LA, I’ve worked on sets, I’ve gotten movie credits, I’ve taken acting classes, and I’ve done terrible stand-up comedy at a hole in the wall that I’m pretty sure was illegal. Everything that I wanted for myself, came to me… in the middle of Illinois.

The timing was immaculate, and when I finally made the move, it was like everything else continuously fell into place for me and the experiences I’ve gained have been even better than what I could’ve ever dreamed of growing up. I’m sure my outcome would’ve been a lot different had I forced the move to LA right after high school.

I’m not saying that’s a bad move for anyone else by any means, but it wasn’t the move for me at the time. I think there’s a lot of things we can be more honest about with ourselves, and a couple of those is when we’re not ready for something, or when we think we’re ready but we’re actually forcing it – even with the things we want most in life. This is with careers, relationships, big city moves, big purchases, flapping your flippers, and doing your first stand-up bit.

Your time will come for what you want, it just may not be now – and that’s okay.
Timing is on your side if you strategize well. Don’t ruin your desires by rushing.

Thanks for reading, xx
Mal