Ripe fruit drops when it’s ready. Shake the tree early and you just get hit with the green ones.

Readiness is a condition in the thing itself, not a response to how much you want it. Forcing an early answer gets you an early version: the friendship that was not there yet, the decision made before anyone knew enough, the opportunity taken while it was still hard and sour. Shaking is just impatience with extra effort attached.

Notice where you are shaking the tree. The unanswered message you want to chase, the plan you want confirmed today, the person you want to be sure about. Give it another two weeks and see what falls on its own.