Thursday, August 12th, 2010 10:40:32

A Bold Spirit of Adventure

I’m a planner. When I worked in finance, I loved planning the budget process — how would it unfold, who would be involved, how we would ensure we met our target. I was most satisfied when we had made all the plans and were ready to begin.

Now, as a wife and mother of two children, my plans are routinely thwarted by the realities of life. My plans — which allow me to feel as though I am control even when I am not — are often overrun by a husband who loves impromptu events and children who continually interrupt plans.

I find myself interrupted by life, while others are interrupted by death. A longtime friend told me two weeks ago a story about his father who had recently died. His point: that life was what happened after everything else was planned, and deciding whether to be happy was a conscious decision. His story reminded me of John Lennon’s quote “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”