I was caught off guard over the weekend when a friend of mine asked me, "So what do you plan to do with the rest of your life?" I think I was doubly caught off guard due to the fact I was out and relaxing at a bar. When I venture to such a destination, the last thing I think about is, "Where am I going to be 20 years from now?" At least for me, I go to bars to temporarily unwind and get away from reality, not to have it thrown in my face. In any case, even 48 hours after the fact, I'd still have difficulty in concretely answering the question, "So what do you plan to do with the rest of your life?"
Now, if I had been asked, "What are your end goals or dreams?" I would have had a fairly easy time responding in full. However, as I've come to learn, it's incredibly difficult, if not next to impossible, to fully plan life. On a daily basis, things happen which we never would have expected, let alone planned, and that's one of the lone consistencies of life. If one had asked me 10 years ago what my plans were for the next decade, I never would have said, "Moving to Columbus, Ohio after 27 years in Omaha, Nebraska; publishing/releasing 12 books; being featured on multiple radio talk shows; co-hosting a talk show; suffering a two-year illness, a gallstone attack, gout, and panic attacks; dating a woman for 2 years which resulted in me filing a police report against her ex-husband; both my dogs passing away, but getting a sweet rescue dog afterwards; and fighting against the very real possibility of Donald Trump becoming our next president."
Often times I find that it's less about making specific plans and more about how we adjust and adapt to the inevitable alterations in those very plans. I have my hopes, goals, and dreams, but I don't know what's going to happen ten minutes from now, let alone ten years from now, so I find it incredibly difficult to plan accordingly as a result. Now I'm not saying plans aren't useful in certain situations. It's perfectly reasonable to try and plan a date over the weekend or several weekends down the road depending on what the venue is and how crowded it might be. However, in the grand scheme of things, life is but a trip, and if we become flustered after every detour we're forced to take when a plan doesn't work out as we had envisioned, it'll surely result in a consistent case of car sickness. If, on the other hand, we're able to better adjust and adapt to those detours, it'll make travel much more enjoyable. So, even today, 48 hours after I was asked, "So what do you plan to do with the rest of your life?" I'd again say, "I don't know, but I'm going to try and enjoy it as much as possible."
Now, if I had been asked, "What are your end goals or dreams?" I would have had a fairly easy time responding in full. However, as I've come to learn, it's incredibly difficult, if not next to impossible, to fully plan life. On a daily basis, things happen which we never would have expected, let alone planned, and that's one of the lone consistencies of life. If one had asked me 10 years ago what my plans were for the next decade, I never would have said, "Moving to Columbus, Ohio after 27 years in Omaha, Nebraska; publishing/releasing 12 books; being featured on multiple radio talk shows; co-hosting a talk show; suffering a two-year illness, a gallstone attack, gout, and panic attacks; dating a woman for 2 years which resulted in me filing a police report against her ex-husband; both my dogs passing away, but getting a sweet rescue dog afterwards; and fighting against the very real possibility of Donald Trump becoming our next president."
Often times I find that it's less about making specific plans and more about how we adjust and adapt to the inevitable alterations in those very plans. I have my hopes, goals, and dreams, but I don't know what's going to happen ten minutes from now, let alone ten years from now, so I find it incredibly difficult to plan accordingly as a result. Now I'm not saying plans aren't useful in certain situations. It's perfectly reasonable to try and plan a date over the weekend or several weekends down the road depending on what the venue is and how crowded it might be. However, in the grand scheme of things, life is but a trip, and if we become flustered after every detour we're forced to take when a plan doesn't work out as we had envisioned, it'll surely result in a consistent case of car sickness. If, on the other hand, we're able to better adjust and adapt to those detours, it'll make travel much more enjoyable. So, even today, 48 hours after I was asked, "So what do you plan to do with the rest of your life?" I'd again say, "I don't know, but I'm going to try and enjoy it as much as possible."
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