Plan on being surprised

There are some things in life you can plan....you can plan on going to college...you can plan on getting married...you can plan on making it on the PGA Tour. Most things in life, however, do not go as we planned on them to and we get something different instead. Maybe not entirely different. But different. Growing up, I never imagined (once) that I would move away from California. I planned on being an attorney. In case you were wondering, I am not an attorney in California. As much as I thought I could plan out most things, I am still taken aback at some of the wonderful things that have happened and the best people I have met - and I didn't plan any of it. Life takes us not where we think we should go - but where HE knows we should go. When my husband and I got married almost 22 years ago, it was a leap of faith...promising to love each other, despite whatever good or bad came our way. I remember telling my dad after we had just celebrated our 10 year anniversary that I was not surprised, but everything we said we would do, we did. We planned on our marriage working, but there have been many surprises along the way. Are you thinking that you can have this all planned out and know what is coming? Are you going to be disappointed if it doesn't happen that way? Probably so. I have done a little bit (ok, a lot) of questioning and have not accepted even the good things that have surprised me. My biggest surprise has come over the last couple of months. That surprise has been that I cannot plan where my heart is taking me...what drives it most...above everything else. A chance meeting changed my life forever and I am better for it and always will be. Take each surprise as something you must experience, with a lesson to be learned. Growing each time as you need to be better than you were the day before. As you take in a breath, take in life and all that it brings your way. Accept it for what it is and what is before you right at this moment. Do not try to plan out your future with the most specific of details. You will meet new people, you will see and feel new things, and your life will be forever changed. You cannot plan for everthing...you just can't. You can try, but sometimes wasted effort and time can be used more constructively, using that energy to make the world better. It may not be what you planned on, but you will treasure all that comes your way...because you couldn't plan on it or expect it. EMBRACE THE JOURNEY!