i was in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time

Pure poetry from Dr. John:

I was in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time
I was sayin' the right things, but I must have used the wrong line
I was on the right trip, but I must have used the wrong car
Head is in a bad place and I wonder what it's good for
I was in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time
My head is in a bad place, but I'm havin' such a good time

Dr. Bob and I had a good talk tonight about relationships. Lately, I've been mentally rolling some things around, reexamining what has worked for me in the past, what hasn't, and trying to frame it in terms of the present. I've always chalked up the fizzled out ones to a lacking: his part, my part, or in the case of the most recent, our part.

I never seem to consider timing.

I recently met someone awesome. We hung out, we laughed, we smooched, things were going well. However, the timing wasn't right for him. (In many respects, I question whether the time is indeed right for me, but that's another post.) This doesn't make him a jerk, or reflect a bad choice on my part, just that our track positions are different today.

Timing is the unfortunate X factor, which is what makes it such a heartbreaker. It's not something you can change. It's not something that you can anticipate. It simply is.

But how do you ask someone "hey, where are you in life right now" without seeming like that clingy girl? I know men that have split off relationships based on that very question.

My hunch is that you make an educated guess, based on how well and what you know about a person. The rest is pure faith.

In the meantime, I'm taking a hiatus from the dating world. I'm concentrating on friends silver and gold, family, horses, and work. Perhaps by the time I'm ready to start thinking about a new lover, I'll stop playing Dr. John in my head.