About this quote

The line points to the moment when trouble arrives that you never asked for. It admits the plain unfairness of being handed a burden and the natural wish that it had happened to someone else. Ask yourself what one small move you can make right now to reduce the load. Make a call, set a single priority, or hand one task to another person and then keep going.

When to use it

• At our startup when the lead investor backed out overnight, I sighed, 'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' and then we split emergency tasks and called our biggest clients.
• In the hospital hallway after my father collapsed, I whispered, 'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' before calling my sister to divide the paperwork.
• When the professor dropped a surprise group project during finals week, I told my study group, 'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' and we quickly chose who would do which section.
• After the team captain tore his ACL right before the tournament, the coach muttered, 'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' then named a temporary captain and changed the practice plan.