Sometimes, plans don’t always go according to the plan. I woke up with a certain plan in mind for today. Then, the Author of the day reminded me that no matter how many plans I make, I am not really in control of them.
When I woke up today, I had relaxing pre-holiday fun, festivities, and creative play on my schedule. I drove about thirty minutes to my first festive event. Before exiting my car, I checked the text messages on my phone in anticipation of ignoring any beeps, buzzes, or other sounds that would interrupt the fun time which was about to begin. The text was a picture of a positive Covid-19 test taken just a few minutes earlier by the hostess with the mostest of the gathering which I planned to attend later this evening. My plans for the rest of the day were suddenly altered.
Since I would not be attending a festive evening gathering, my creative plans were quickly scuttled. My plan, when I woke up, was to experiment in the kitchen. I had the brilliant idea to alter my sausage cheese ball recipe. I anticipated a slightly spicy improvement to my original recipe. But,rather than experiment, I set aside the ingredients and decided to play with the food at some other time.
This is not typical Monica behavior. Holes are to be filled in to avoid tripping and falling. So, when a hole in my schedule appears, I will fill it with another activity or event.
Why did I act differently this time? I don’t know for sure, but I hope that it’s a sign of a change in my attitude. A little over eighteen months ago, I was encouraged by my therapist to start attending a twelve step meeting. Step number three says that the participants are to completely surrender their will to God.
I know that I alluded to how I used to act earlier, but I will repeat it more plainly. Prior to attending recovery meetings, I rarely even thought about surrendering my will, much less actually doing it on a routine basis.
As a Jesus follower, I knew that I was supposed to surrender. Occasionally, I would even try to do it. But the surrender lifestyle was incompatible with my strong will. So, I strong-willed my way through most of my life.
Being strong willed and stubborn enough to persevere may sound like a good thing. But, that’s an illusion. A strong-willed stubborn person who perseveres and white-knuckles their way through life does so at the expense of the relationships with others. Unfortunately, I have a lot of firsthand experience of this.
When I decided to live a surrendered life most of the time instead of only every other blue moon, I noticed a change in my emotions. My anger didn’t explode nearly as often. I didn’t say never, because I drive in Atlanta, Georgia traffic routinely, Atlanta automobile traffic is roughly equivalent to its airport traffic – busy all hours of the day with vehicles moving at high rates of speed. Traffic not withstanding, my overall temper was dialed down several degrees.
So, when my schedule was altered this morning, I chose to go along with the Planner’s idea, rather than offer my suggestions. As a result, I relaxed at home for a bit, did a couple of low-energy tasks, and when a friend called, there was time to talk.
It’s been said that life is what happens when you are busy making plans. Today, I did not make a plan. As a result, I enjoyed a little bit of life!
Journey with Monica 