My friends often make fun of me because I still keep an old school paper planner. It is big and bulky and takes time to write in, but I just love it, and can’t imagine using anything else. I have tried using my phone to keep track of tasks and appointments, but inevitably I don’t set the alerts correctly, or my phone is on silent and I miss the notification. After missing three doctor appointments in a row, I knew something had to change. So I went back to writing everything down. Now I never miss an appointment, or a birthday, or an important event. Even better is the satisfaction of crossing items off my list when I have completed them. Such a sense of accomplishment that you just don’t get with the cell phone. Modern technology has a lot of benefits and advantages, but this is one area where it is lacking, along with the satisfaction we used to get when we were angry with someone on the phone and we could slam the phone down in their ear. Oh the pleasure in that! But I digress…
This poem came about when one day, while I was having lunch with my friend Christine. A friend of hers saw us through the window and stopped in to have a drink with us. I had never met this woman but I immediately liked her laid back style, and kindness just radiated out of her. She had such a great energy. As we were talking about all kinds of things, she was explaining her current living situation, which was in a bit of a transition. She was trying to figure out her next move, which would need to happen within the next few months. As she was weighing all the different options, she stopped herself and took a breath and said, “Maybe I should just let life unfold.” I immediately said cheers to that, as we toasted, but aside from that, I just loved that line and that attitude, so I immediately filed it away for future reference.
Many times in life we stress ourselves out so much worrying about “what if” or things outside of our control. We want structure and we try to plan for every eventuality. When things do not go the way we planned, we are disappointed or thrown off course, or anxiety overtakes us as we try to figure out Plan B. But this takes some of the spontaneity and fun out of life. Shouldn’t part of life be a mystery? Isn’t part of the gift of life wondering what is inside the package? If we had all the answers or had carefully planned every detail, life would possibly run a little smoother, but then again, maybe not. Life has a funny way of showing us who is boss, and usually it is not us.
Remember the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray? Every day his character would awaken to the same day over and over again. At first he used it to his advantage, knowing everything that was going to happen that day and being able to plan for it. But as each day repeated itself, he grew more and more frustrated for that very same reason! Every day was the same and it was all planned out and he knew what to expect. His life had lost that spontaneity and impulsiveness. That starts to happen to a lot of us. Imagine if you had the opportunity to see your life unfold in a crystal ball and you knew what to expect throughout the years. Would you want to know? On the one hand, you could plan for it and be ready and this might help you to feel more in control of things. But then, on the other hand, there would be no surprises. Life is supposed to be a journey, and part of every journey is bumps along the way. It is not only the bumps that shape us and our character, it is how we respond to those bumps and how we allow the road that we’re traveling to shift a little under our feet as we find new ground. So we should embrace that bumpy road, with all its twists and turns, hold on tight, and let life unfold.
Let Life Unfold
From the time that we are little tots
We learn the golden rule.
Conformity and routine
Were other things we learned in school.
As we grow up and start to form
A life to call our own
The structure and the rules we learned
Stick with us to the bone.
We lose some of the playfulness
And spontaneity.
We start to live by calendars
That tell us where to be.
Maybe we should take a break
From doing what we’re told.
Grab back some impulsiveness
And just let life unfold.
Sometimes we want to write our life
Right down to the last minute.
We want to dictate all the plans
And all the people in it.
And then when things don’t work out
We shrug and wonder why.
We often feel like giving up;
Why should we even try?
So many things in life
Are outside of our hands.
If you ever want to hear God laugh
Just tell him of your plans.
We don’t know what the future holds
So it does not pay to worry.
Life will pass on its own time;
Don’t be in such a hurry.
We want to quickly check things off,
And move on down the list.
While we’re busy crossing off things we did
There is so much we just missed.
So maybe we should relax those reins,
Be a bit more carefree.
I hear that there’s a plan for us,
And what will be, will be.
We never know what life has in store
When we step out of the mold.
So take a breath, and hold on tight,
And just let life unfold!
-K.A. Bloch-
