SHE BELIEVED SHE COULD SO SHE DID
It's easy to plan your life. but let me tell you, life doesn't go according to plans.
I'm that person who planned everything, I basically had an agenda for life which started when I finished high school. I was going to go to college, get married, become a teacher, work as a personal trainer during the summers and after school, and have at least four kids with my wonderful husband. Oh, and that would all happen before the age of 35.
Fast forward to now. I went to college, became a certified teacher and personal trainer, AND have a wonderful husband (plus a dog that I like seventy percent of the time.) Seems like I checked all the boxes right? Close, but no. Although I had the teaching certification there weren't any open teaching positions for someone without any experience and without dual certification.
I stumbled over this hurdle and went to work for a software company which was actually pretty great. I mean, we had beer Fridays plus in-office yoga and massages (yes, those things do exist). I was a little worried that I would not have the same schedule as our future carload of kids but I kept my fingers crossed that my mother would be a free nanny. So, I wasn't teaching but going to work every day could have been worse.
I was able to handle this slight change in my life agenda and, naturally, I was moving onto the next box to check. I was 28 and had to have four kids in six years. I was basically planning to be a baby hotel for the foreseeable future. After all, this was always the plan but there's a plot twist. Ready for it?
It turns out that due to some medical mystery the plans of being a baby hotel are not going to work out. Probably no kids for me or my wonderful husband. Everything I had planned out was flipped upside down like a competitive game of Monopoly gone wrong. My life agenda basically burst into flames. What do you do when everything you have worked for and planned out is no longer in your control? I'll tell you what happens, you flip the F out, have multiple meltdowns, and become completely consumed by what you can't have. Believe me, it is not pretty.
So why am I sharing this? Why now? Not because I want hugs and words of encouragement or medical recommendations, but because I've learned that you miss out on life and doing what you love when you try to live it according to plans. And, if I can help one person realize there is more to life than "the plan" then this very first blog post has served it's purpose.
When my life agenda was put through the shredder there were feelings of anger, sadness, and frustration. But there was also a silver lining, life was no longer driven by a plan. I had the chance try something new. No more agenda. Goodbye checklist.
So here I am, trying something new and loving every minute of it. Instead of planning life I plan challenging workouts that have clients cursing me but also have them signing up for the next class. Instead of focusing on what's next I'm appreciating and enjoying "the now." We all have one life to live, don't get too caught up in the plans and miss out. You never know when those plans may change.