Since I was young, my mom has always told me this - "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans" (I am 100% positive that she stole this saying from John Lennon but I'm going to give her credit anyways.). Now here we are, 21 years later and she still reminds me of this saying every time something doesn't go my way.

I consider myself to be a "planner." Don't get me wrong, spontaneity is great and all but I like a plan. Truthfully, if I could plan out what the rest of my life would look like I probably would. I do not like the unknown, I like to be in control of situations. Unfortunately, my little life plans never seem to go the way I had once intended, and I often find myself in unpredicted situations.

As I have gotten older I have realized how true my moms saying is. Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. Nobody plans for the bad things. In my perfect world, nothing bad would ever happen to me or my loved ones again, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Nobody plans on getting a speeding ticket, nobody plans on getting the flu before finals and nobody plans on a loved one getting sick - but these things happen.

I feel that at my age all I do is plan. Where will I move after graduation? What will my first out-of-college job be? Will I even find a job? These questions are just a few examples what fuel my constant need to formulate my life. And by letting the future consume my daily thoughts, I lose attention that could be spent on the present.

So, I have learned a valuable lesson: I need to stop planning out my entire life. Life will never go the way I anticipate it. Things happen and life, whether good or bad, will get in the way. As important as it is to focus on the future, I have found that it is equally as important to focus on the present. What happens tomorrow is out of my control, but I can make today whatever I want it to be. So I intend to make the most out of each and every day and appreciate the little things in my life.