How do you plan for the future and live in the moment?

How do you plan for the future and live in the moment?  I have been thinking about this quite a bit lately and have figured out that I do both all the time.  It doesn’t seem like this is possible but it really depends on how flexible I choose to be.

I have spent much time learning to not plan the life out of things.  In the past, by the time our event arrived it had lost all the fun because I had to plan for every conceivable thing that could possibly happen.  I was so rigid in my ways that I could not be spontaneous.  Judging from the trip John and I just made to Virginia, I have come a long way!

I made reservations with a hotel that had a good fitness center and an indoor heated pool.  (When I asked the desk clerk if the pool was heated she told me she wasn’t sure but the room it was in was REALLY hot!)  These were things that were important to me and my fitness routine.  I know from past experience that getting out of my routine is a very bad thing.  I also felt that if John and his son wanted to go off together I would be occupied.  It was too cold to do much outside and there is little shopping of interest.  Add to all that, it was the holidays in a small town and many businesses were closed. 

As it worked out, the hotel also had free breakfast and it was a very nice breakfast.   I was able to get up, do my work out and have a good healthy breakfast each day.  John was free to do what he wanted and he even decided to join me.  That was a surprise.

When we take this trip, John usually spends a lot of time with his son and grandson.  This year there was a new addition, his granddaughter.  The grandson ended up sick and all the priorities changed.  I did not want to come home sick so my decision was to stay clear of everyone.  John would go back and forth to visit as he could.  We did have dinner with his son & his wife a couple times but the trip was much different than originally planned.  Our last day in Virginia we decided to go tour some of the Vineyards and I was able to do a couple of wine tastings.  It was an enjoyable day and a new experience.

My point in all of this is that our trip could have been ruined by a sick child.  Instead, we stayed in the moment, did what we could and found new interests.  We made our trip an adventure instead of a nightmare.  All of that is what got me thinking about planning and what you do when the plans don’t work out.

I try to plan meals and when they don’t work out, for whatever reason, we live in the moment and make other arrangements.  When travelling to work if there is a traffic problem, I take a different route.  I told John before we married that I would not stay home and clean house while he went out and had fun so if my plans are to mop a floor and his are to play pool, you can bet your bottom dollar that I am playing pool.  The dirty floor can wait!

I have learned to be more flexible.  When something doesn’t go as planned I ask myself “how important is it” and most of the time it isn’t important at all.  It is impossible to control this life I live and when I stopped trying I started having I fun!  My life became more peaceful and less stressed.

I can make all the plans I want but living in the moment is much easier when I let go them and just enjoy what is in front of me.