Going into my last semester of college, it's hard to keep my mind off what I'll be doing four months from now. Where will I be living, working, going to grad school? All of these questions are beyond overwhelming and only make me want to cuddle my pillow in bed with Netflix. I've already started 2016 with some major changes, changes that weren't a part of my long term "college plan." You see, I've always had this idea of where I'd be at this exact point in my life. I was supposed to be a shoo-in for any grad school, in a relationship that was marriage-ready, and on track to be in my own apartment by May. In my mind this was a foolproof plan that I was sure to live out, but I've come to realize that those plans weren't conducive to who I had become.
It's impossible to plan absolutely everything because we are constantly changing. Sometimes things aren't meant to happen the way we want them to, as hard as that is to deal with. So this year, I've decided to take on a new outlook--no plans. Instead I have ideas, thoughts about where I think I'd like to be, things I'd like to do, but nothing so strictly planned out that it crushes me if it doesn't work out. There is a greater plan for us all, and a lot of the time that is completely out of our control. Going with the flow and just letting things happen can potentially produce even greater results than a plan ever could.
Being a "go with the flow" kind of person certainly doesn't happen overnight. How do you even become labeled as the easygoing one? I think it has to do with not allowing the fear of things failing to rattle you and your every emotion. So, you must change your instincts to be able to change your actions. If a plan doesn't work, instinct tells you to immediately freak out and come up with a completely different plan. I propose taking the change of course as an immediate blessing, a piece to the greater puzzle. You have to look at it as a change that will place you where you were really meant to end up. I know it's hard to picture such an abstract concept but we really don't know how this world will change us, or how our experiences will shape us. The person you are today may not be the person you are next month or next year. With that being said, failed plans only bring you closer to the "you" that you are meant to be. The "you" that has taken the bad with the good in a way that has remarkably changed you, and your plans, for the better.
