You know those days when nothing seems to go as anticipated? When you've finally taken the time to plan a day out and things just don't fall into place? Well...I had one of those days on Saturday. It's not that this sort of thing is unusual to me. I have this weird tendency to want to "make-the-most-out-of-it" when I go on outings, so I spend gobs of time researching before I go...what makes the place fun or unique? where would the locals recommend eating? are there any cool boutiques? where can I get a good cup of coffee? and the list goes on, and on, and on...
This trait I'm sure was passed down somewhere along the line from my father. I vividly remember one morning in a hotel room in Hong Kong, he pulled out a yellow piece of notepad paper with a handdrawn grid occupying the entire page. Each column represented a day of our "vacation" and each row a 15min time span. I giggled inside at the irony then. And yet, as I've gotten older I've fallen prey to the same vices entirely too often. I've tried to cram so many things into one afternoon, one day, one weekend, that the "fun" time is no longer fun. Instead, it's a grand race to meet all my expectations.
So, when the pieces of my puzzle weren't quite fitting together this weekend I was reminded of a list of "5 Simple Rules for Happiness"...I can't remember what the first four were at the moment, but the last one was the important one, "#5 Expect less."
I've really been trying to work on this...to let go of the visions I formulate in my head about what "should be" and make way for the "could be"...to free my mind of anticipation so that I may just enjoy what actually is.
And, this weekend it totally worked! I was able to just relax a little, take a deep breath and roll with the punches. When Plan A didn't pan out, we went to Plan B, and when Plan B fell short we came up with Plan C. And even though the day ended up looking nothing like I had envisioned, it couldn't have been more perfectly "imperfect." Because in the end, all that matters are the moments I get to share with the ones that I love. It doesn't really matter WHAT we're doing...just that we're doing them together! Right?!
Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day...mine was fabulous!!
PS--Am I crazy, or does anyone else struggle with this too??
I totally do this, too! A few years ago, Dan and I were going on a family vacation with my parents, and I made one of those schedule spreadsheets. My mom kept referring to it as my "imaginary schedule" because no one else was agreeing to go along with it. lol! I also did one when Dan and I went to Europe a few months ago, but that one ended up being a really good thing to have.
ReplyDeleteI definitely have a tendency to at least make a mental list/picture of how things should go and am sometimes disappointed when things don't play out exactly to my plan. I like your way of thinking "expect less"--I think that's the key to having a happier life!
I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day!
Laura! I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one!! Lol :) And, I also love that you had a trip where your planning skills came in handy...it totally goes to show that there's a time and place for everything, right?! Thanks for reading!! xo
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