If there is one thing I have learned as an adult, it’s that nothing ever goes according to plan. I remember during my freshman year of high school, my English teacher had us write out our four-year plan. The plan included what classes we were going to take, what activities we were going to do, and what we were thinking about majoring in once we got to college. According to my four-year plan, I should be a marine biology/nursing major who moonlights as a professional violinist and goes to school on a volleyball/gymnastics/basketball scholarship to Stanford. Needless to say, my plans didn’t exactly work out. I quit playing the violin after freshman year and I gained ten pounds once I started college.
We all have these ideas in our heads about how our lives will play out. You may plan on graduating college in four years, getting married by a certain age, or traveling the world before you’re 25. We have all made these kinds of crazy long-term plans with the utmost confidence that they won’t fall through. However, as you grow up, you begin to realize that life rarely works out the way you think it will. You fail a class, you have a break-up, or something happens that makes you have to reevaluate everything.
Sadly, when you’re an adult, no one really cares when your plans don’t work out. Sure, they may be sympathetic. Oh you didn’t get into the school you wanted? That sucks. Oh your car died? What a drag. Oh your favorite show was canceled? I’m sorry. Yet, as sympathetic as someone might be, they usually have their own issues to deal with. It wasn’t until college that I really understood that part of being an adult is making plans, watching those plans crash and burn, and then figuring out your strategy from there.
The hardest part about watching your plans fall through is letting go of what you thought was going to happen. It is so easy to dwell on that four-year plan you made and mourn over that school you didn’t get into. However, eventually, you are going to have to suck it up and deal with what is in front of you. I finally figured out that being angry and bitter that my life didn’t end up the way I pictured it is a big waste of time. Pining for what could have been won’t get you anywhere.
The truth is that most of the time when you look back at your life, you see that none of your “plan A’s” really worked out. You hardly ever end up exactly where you think you will. Yet, despite how devastating it sometimes is to have to change your plans, I truly believe that there is a reason behind it. So next time your plans don’t work out, whether it be having to do with school, a relationship, or anything else, try your best to not dwell on what could have been. Keep your head up, go back to the drawing board and try again.
