I am a planner. I like things to go according to plan. Things rarely go according to plan! Ha!
In the past I have really struggled with change. It felt like a loss of control, even though in reality that control was out of my hands from the start. But what if I just changed my focus?
I can still plan. Instead of having a backup plan, perhaps I can just have a mood plan. I cannot control what will happen but I can control my response. If plan A doesn't work out, I will plan to laugh it off. I will plan to make the most of it and find some good in the alternative.
We have a trip planned that is balancing on what the weather will end up being. I have no control over that. I can plan to have fun whether we are home or on the road.
I enrolled my daughter for school next year even as the pandemic numbers are the worst they have been over the last year. There is a vaccine but I have no idea if or when my family will receive it. I enrolled my daughter anyway because even though it will be a big change for us, it will be a good one.
Then I ask myself, what determines a good change versus a bad one? Sure there are changes that hurt, like the loss of a loved one. Most changes are not so big and can easily have good elements. Sometimes we don't realize that a change is actually leading us toward a good outcome because we are busy focusing on what we didn't want to let go of or change.
A few weeks ago I said that perhaps this year would be about letting go, for me. Perhaps that is only one part of the bigger theme of embracing change. And the change I am most eager to embrace is letting go of the need to control and seeing the beauty in the things that don't go as planned.
I'm grateful to do this for myself and for my family. I'm grateful to take lots of breaths today and focus on smiling. I'm grateful to focus on options rather than what is no longer an option. I'm grateful to have taken the leap of faith and enrolled my daughter in school next year. I'm grateful to know there is still flexibility. I'm grateful to look at what is best in the long term. I'm grateful to take a quick trip to the playground today on a whim. I'm grateful to entertain the idea of a new favorite color. I'm grateful for the last year that has taught me so much and for the year ahead for me to learn and grow in new ways.
What will the theme of this year be for you? What areas do you like to plan and what areas of life do you just wing it? What helps you embrace change?
May we recognize the need for change. May we find grace moving through any and all transitions this year. Have a beautiful day!