Letting go...
“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell
I struggle so much with this and I am guessing many of you do as well... letting go... giving up the idea we have of control, when I say the idea its because we don't really have control even though we would like to think and believe we do.
I stumbled into this with motherhood... WHAT a revelation... as a type A personality and recovering perfectionist I can tell you it has not been easy. Being a mama has taught me I don't have control and plans change, I might be able to have a slight control and still try to plan things like dinner, laundry, date nights (THOSE are important to plan) etc, and even then I am reminded - let go of the plan- when there are days where the lil' one is teething with lots of crying and whining, dinner pretty much goes out the window and that means grab the phone and order a pizza, because this mama has not had a chance to cook!
It has taken me 10 months to realize it's not worth the stress, I would go nuts trying to keep the plan and expect to get everything clean, dinner ready, keep control and when plans and things changed I would (and sometimes do) spiral into a dangerous vortex.
Planning is important so that we have an idea of what we are going to do, a guideline to follow, but trying to rigidly follow it can be exhausting too... that is why it is important to keep an open mind and be open to plans changing. I had many things planned for my life and very very few have actually been accomplished. I feel like sometimes planning gives you too many expectations and expectations lead to stress and disappointment. I never planned to live in the pacific north west with a a baby and not as a high end carrier woman traveling the world, but you know what my life is SO much better than imagined, so much better than the plans I had, richer and happier too... my family on the other hand is still fighting with the disappointment of me not following the plans they had for me, when I ended up being a stay at home mom and not using all those years of college education, masters degree, and not being a successful lawyer, and even though they make their disapproval quite loud and it gets to me sometimes I realized- but you know what? that is their problem not mine, they still have not let go of their "plans" and opened their eyes to see that my life is so much better and I am happy.
I am telling you this story because it is important to keep in mind that yes, we all make plans, we all need to have have some sort of direction in our lives but its also important to be open to plans changing - life changes- we will be much happier when we let go, we wont be stressed and bitter with disappointment when things don't go as "planned", we will be able and willing to see all the good and better things that came out of that change, things we never imagines or could have planned for...
I invite you to join me in being willing to let go of our plans and enjoying what life brings us,
The eternal dreamer
I struggle so much with this and I am guessing many of you do as well... letting go... giving up the idea we have of control, when I say the idea its because we don't really have control even though we would like to think and believe we do.
I stumbled into this with motherhood... WHAT a revelation... as a type A personality and recovering perfectionist I can tell you it has not been easy. Being a mama has taught me I don't have control and plans change, I might be able to have a slight control and still try to plan things like dinner, laundry, date nights (THOSE are important to plan) etc, and even then I am reminded - let go of the plan- when there are days where the lil' one is teething with lots of crying and whining, dinner pretty much goes out the window and that means grab the phone and order a pizza, because this mama has not had a chance to cook!
It has taken me 10 months to realize it's not worth the stress, I would go nuts trying to keep the plan and expect to get everything clean, dinner ready, keep control and when plans and things changed I would (and sometimes do) spiral into a dangerous vortex.
Planning is important so that we have an idea of what we are going to do, a guideline to follow, but trying to rigidly follow it can be exhausting too... that is why it is important to keep an open mind and be open to plans changing. I had many things planned for my life and very very few have actually been accomplished. I feel like sometimes planning gives you too many expectations and expectations lead to stress and disappointment. I never planned to live in the pacific north west with a a baby and not as a high end carrier woman traveling the world, but you know what my life is SO much better than imagined, so much better than the plans I had, richer and happier too... my family on the other hand is still fighting with the disappointment of me not following the plans they had for me, when I ended up being a stay at home mom and not using all those years of college education, masters degree, and not being a successful lawyer, and even though they make their disapproval quite loud and it gets to me sometimes I realized- but you know what? that is their problem not mine, they still have not let go of their "plans" and opened their eyes to see that my life is so much better and I am happy.
I am telling you this story because it is important to keep in mind that yes, we all make plans, we all need to have have some sort of direction in our lives but its also important to be open to plans changing - life changes- we will be much happier when we let go, we wont be stressed and bitter with disappointment when things don't go as "planned", we will be able and willing to see all the good and better things that came out of that change, things we never imagines or could have planned for...
I invite you to join me in being willing to let go of our plans and enjoying what life brings us,
The eternal dreamer
