Live Now, Not Later

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You can’t plan the future.

Don’t get me wrong here; the future is worth the sound investment and is something that should be taken into consideration every once in a while. What I’m talking about is the incessant need to plan everything that will happen to us because the last time I checked, unless you were an extremely talented psychic, it is impossible. We could take preventative measures and plan our lives in according to how we would like it to go but it is the random that ultimately defines our lives.

There is a big difference between being organized and responsible and being completely insane. Sometimes I fall on the latter spectrum.  In fact, one time a couple years ago I remember spending 3 whole hours working different timelines of how my life “should” turn out. THREE hours. I don’t know what I was thinking scheduling my entire life with every neurotic detail, as if I knew what would really happen. The more I actively thought about the prospects of my life, the unhappier I felt. If something minor weren’t to go the way as planned, it is absolutely crushing and feels as if it is the end of the world. But it isn’t. There are the people that give the opinion that nothing comes to you in life, you have got to work hard and make your own opportunities. I completely agree with that sentiment but what if our lives already have a natural layout to it? What if things really were meant to be and there is nothing we can consciously do about it? There are too many “ifs” in the world to even comprehend.

I truly am a believer in the cliché saying that the best moments are the ones that happen when we least expect it.  Whether it is grabbing those last minute concert tickets or just saying yes to that impromptu coffee date, it should leave you with a sense of freedom from yourself. A healthy dose of spontaneity keeps the creative soul alive.

Now, I cannot say I am a totally reformed over planner as I still constantly carry around my little agenda but I instead take it week by week with some time reserved at the beginning of the month for long term goals and plans. I keep myself busy and have learned to live in the moment with every able part of myself  because one day later in life I am going to actually be living that future I oh so carefully designed for myself and will look back on some of the best memories …that weren’t planned.