Jim Olson 8/2/26

Inches and seconds.  I was recently involved in an accident where the other party ran a stop sign directly in front of me as I entered an intersection on my motorcycle.   I can recall past experiences where the impact of inches and seconds were on my mind, but this incident has reset the bar on those thoughts at a much higher level.

We go through life accepting the timely and untimely happenstance of inches and seconds.  Those tiny slivers of distance and time impact and shape us; as well as those around us.  It has been that way for a millennium; it will not change. Those instances drive an appreciation for the positive outcomes found in those narrowly measured moments, and deliver equally valuable lessons from the downside of such flashes in life.

Sometimes the influences of inches and seconds come into play in less physical ways.  There are many examples of daily communication interactions in business and family where distance and timing have made a difference; a comment advanced quickly or held quietly to the benefit or detriment of the parties.  Inches and seconds.

 The physical aspects of inches and seconds are of course easier to appreciate as in the case of my accident.  Had I not left home when I did, had I had that extra cup of coffee or perhaps left the earlier cup of coffee unfinished, if I had traveled two miles an hour faster or slower along my path after having left the house; I would never have been within inches and seconds from that offending vehicle.  Or would I have?  Would universal fate and luck have realigned the order of things to have maintained that narrowly measured happenstance?

They say luck favors the prepared and I’ve always bought hard into that mindset, looking for an edge in a lot of things; but it remains fate and luck all the same in that game of inches and seconds.  

My conclusion in all this introspective thought is to prepare, as possible; then appreciate and learn from every interaction and breath that fate provides and luck allows.  Time and distance, those inches and seconds, we exist in moments to be valued.