I have a confession. Generally speaking, I do not like to be asked to do something at the spur of the moment, fun or otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy spontaneity, but I don’t want to make it a pattern in my life. I’m a planner. I like to plan things, including my fun. If I had it in my mind to spend the day in my pajamas, then that is exactly what I intend to do; unless of course you have tickets to see Barbra Streisand (I know random right?! Love her!), in which case I will gladly come out of my pajamas, bathe, make myself presentable and then leave the house. Otherwise, it’s just Netflix and me for the day. And this is true for my short and long term plans. Whether I’m planning for the weekend, or for the year, whatever I set out to do, I intend to accomplish it.
Now I do not think this is necessarily a bad practice, but as a friend once said “life does not always avail itself the way we would like.” Sometimes the way I envision life unfolding does not match with reality, and I’m forced to either ride the wave of life, or drown in disappointment. If you have been reading my posts, then you are aware that I am learning to ride this wave, and I encourage you to learn to ride it as well. But we should ride it with at least this caveat: while we must be flexible with life, we must also not let the uncertainty of life be an excuse for poor planning. In other words, we must learn to find a balance between proper planning for life and enjoying the adventure of life.
To some, this may seem obvious, but I found myself wrestling with the role of planning for the future, while also surrendering the need to control the future. It is easy for me to conclude that since I do not know what the future holds, and I trust God to direct me, then I need not do anything. Yet, such thinking can easily cause me to slip into a form of laziness and non-living, which is as unacceptable as my inflexibility. I’m coming to understand that although the future may be unknowable, that does not mean one cannot be strategic in how one approaches it. Indeed, I have seen, and been a party to, many difficult situations that could have been averted had there been better planning. Being flexible in life, then, may require waiting, but we must choose active waiting that sets a course and can bend with life, versus passive waiting, where we are aimlessly blown around by the wind of life. As the axiom goes, “Trust in God, but tie your shoe.”
Thus, I balance my openness to life’s uncertainty, by engaging in active waiting. The key for me is to not be pulled into the false security that comes with planning or give into the fear of the uncertain. Life is a balance, and I’m constantly learning how to navigate it. So while I still am not likely to jump up and go to the movies with you when you call spur of the moment, I am willing to expand my list of people I would leave my pajamas to see beyond just Barbra Streisand.
–Until Next Time–
Palooke
