The Best Laid Plans
...in five years I “plan to plan”.
Fifteen years ago I was a member of a just-forming Professional Women’s Network. As part of introducing ourselves to fellow members we were to provide a picture, a brief bio and/or description of our business, and we were asked to express where we “hoped” to be 5 years from that date. This was 2006, just months before facebook was introduced to the public: it was an “old school” facebook. I uncovered this booklet recently - synchronicity? - and read through my introduction.
“The 5-year plan. I had a gleeful moment when I started to think about what I would write. At first, a bit daunting for one who doesn't make such plans. The gleeful moment? I realized that 5 years brought me to the “empty nest” phase of life. To qualify that statement...I am certainly not gleeful because my children will be gone from the homestead - au contraire! I am not looking forward to them leaving the nest. But as it is inevitable… Five years from now my two children will most probably be in college. So in five years I “plan to plan”. “
I went on to talk about “coupledom”, travel, exploring new possibilities for living and then:
“In addition to exploring the many possibilities, I plan to not race around so much and LIVE MY LIFE DELIBERATELY. [Note the SHOUTY CAPITALS and italics used for emphasis!] I hope to be enjoying a life filled with rich experiences and relationships and one in which I am able to give more of myself to those in “need”.”
Interesting… Finally I discovered a footnote.
“Perhaps our “exercise” should be to review our “5-year plan” once a year to make sure we’re on track and are headed in a direction we want to go. And, more importantly, that we are enjoying the journey!”
There’s no doubt that I have had some “rich experiences and relationships'' over the years since I wrote that. The statement “I plan to not race around so much and LIVE MY LIFE DELIBERATELY” - HA! I could talk a good game but… Was I true to those words? Absolutely NOT. And 14 years went by before I woke up!
I’m now AWAKE and I’m certainly not going to dwell on the thought that, just maybe, I wasted a bit of valuable time. I certainly don’t want to live my life in regret - should have, could have - it doesn’t do any one any good. Now is NOW. A simple statement that I use quite often: it’s powerful and abundantly clear.
So what are we going to do about beginning to realize what we want or, if we already know, taking steps to actualize it today - right NOW? Maybe the action we take today is first revealing what it is. Saying it out loud. Expressing it to friends - and strangers… “This is what I'm planning to do. No - this is what I’m GOING to do.” And if we haven’t a clue... Take some time to put pen to paper and free-form journal. TODAY. Don’t overthink it, the writing does not have to be good. Just see what comes out of your head and onto the page. A simple question “What is the life that I truly want?” I would suggest not reading it right after. I would put it away and do the same thing tomorrow, the next day and the next. Give it several days. And then go back and read those entries. Is there a common thread, a theme that emerges? Don’t censor your thoughts, which many of us have a tendency to do. Sometimes it’s scary to see what we REALLY want or we fear that if something happens to us and someone finds our unedited thoughts we’d be embarrassed or… It doesn’t matter. Recognize that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US that’s living on this planet has vulnerable thoughts. If we truly want to live a fulfilled, integrated life we need to be true to who we REALLY are and were meant to be. It shouldn’t - and doesn’t - matter what anyone else thinks: they’ve got their own purpose to discover and pursue.
I’m continuing to create my “next act” by creating and developing HER NEXT ACT. I’d love to know what you might be contemplating, and if you really don’t know, of course that’s okay too. Often being stuck or stalled is the spot that gets us to take action of some sort. That’s what ignited me.
Please join me in our private fb community to continue the conversation and take steps towards creating and/or enhancing your Next Act! I’d love to connect!
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