I love to plan! It’s been my passion since I was six years old. And my great planning skills served me really well in many areas of my life.
My job as an auditor was all about constant deadlines, so having a great system of planning was a true asset. In my private life, I am usually the first one in the family to start planning for holidays, birthday parties, or family vacations.
Having a schedule updated daily or weekly always was a big part of my life. However, there were always two problems. First, I usually planned for myself a very ambitious number of tasks and goals to accomplish, which would often left me exhausted. Second, if I couldn’t follow my schedule due to some interruption, I would feel frustrated and unsuccessful.
Recently, I have noticed a real unwillingness to plan and schedule my days. My “old planning me” thought that it was a certain sign of laziness and lack of focus. But amazingly, I achieved a lot of great accomplishments in the several last weeks, even without having a plan! Perhaps not having a plan is not a lack of focus, just my soul’s yearning for more flow and spontaneity in my life.
Yesterday, Life brought me another important lesson about schedules. My husband and I planned on getting up early in the morning and going to one of the shopping malls to start our Christmas shopping. However, neither of us had a good night’s sleep. When my alarm clock rang at 5 a.m., I immediately realized that I was very unrested and cranky. To my big surprise, I decided to give up the idea of shopping and continued sleeping. Perhaps for somebody else that is a normal reaction, not for me! In the past, if I had a plan, I would always stick to it, no matter what. This time, the voice of my soul for being kind to myself was stronger than the voice of the “planner” inside me. What I needed yesterday morning was to get a good sleep. That was my REAL schedule. Not the shopping.
Our Life is our true schedule happening for us. Let’s pay attention to what Life brings to us. Acknowledging and living what is now is a big gift we can give to ourselves.
