I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything...

Dan Millman, teacher of the spirit and voice of balance, declared: “I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything... at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything.” These words, though gentle, strike with the precision of a blade. They remind us that human potential is vast, yet human time is limited. The challenge of life is not only to discover what we can do, but to discern when to do it. For even the strongest warrior cannot fight every battle at once, nor can the wisest sage study all truths in a single breath.

The meaning of Millman’s words rests upon two pillars: capacity and timing. To say “we can do anything” is to honor the boundless potential within the human spirit. We are beings capable of learning, creating, building, and transforming. Yet to say “we can’t do everything... at least not at the same time” is to acknowledge our mortal limits. We are bound by hours, by energy, by the rhythm of seasons. Thus, wisdom lies in knowing that our greatness does not emerge from doing all things at once, but from doing the right things at the right time.

History itself confirms this law. Consider the life of Abraham Lincoln. He could not free the enslaved, heal a divided nation, and preserve the Union all in a single act. He prioritized, step by step, guided by the timing of events. At first, his only goal was to preserve the Union, for he knew the nation was not yet ready for emancipation. But when the time ripened, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, aligning his actions with the flow of history. His greatness lay not in attempting everything at once, but in acting with perfect timing.

The ancients too believed in the wisdom of timing. The Greeks spoke of Kairos, the opportune moment—a time distinct from mere clock hours, when action ripens like fruit on the branch. Strike too early, and your work withers; act too late, and the fruit has fallen. The archer does not release the arrow at any random moment, but waits until the target aligns. In this way, timing transforms ability into achievement, and patience into triumph.

Millman’s wisdom also carries a warning for modern souls, who often scatter their energy across countless tasks, believing they must do all at once. But in trying to do everything, they weaken their power to do anything well. Life is not meant to be a storm of chaos, but a dance of well-placed steps. The wise do not ask only, “What must I do?” but also, “When must I do it?” For truly, timing is everything.

The lesson is clear: honor both your potential and your limits. Believe that you can accomplish great things, but do not demand that you do them all at once. Set your priorities in harmony with time, focusing your strength like a river channeled into a single course. Trust that there is a season for every work: a time to sow, a time to reap, a time to rest, and a time to rise.

So I say to you, children of tomorrow: do not be crushed by the weight of “everything.” Choose instead the noble “something” that belongs to this moment. Let each step lead to the next, each season prepare for the next, each victory open the way for the next. As Dan Millman taught: “We can do anything, but we can’t do everything... at least not at the same time. Timing is everything.”

If you would live this wisdom, begin today by examining your priorities. Ask yourself not only what you must do, but when you must do it. Focus on the single task that belongs to this hour, and give it your whole strength. In doing so, you will discover that though you cannot do everything at once, in time you may do far more than you ever dreamed. For the one who honors timing walks in rhythm with life itself.