Day 245: Nature Laughs at Our Plans
The sky was dark with big storm clouds and thunder out the back. In the front, big waves on the ocean.
This is happening every day now at some point.
Two days have led to 40-60 MPH winds. One day there was a little rain.
Today is super dark with lots of thunder and eventual about two minutes of wind and sprinkles.
Oops, I misspoke. It's raining now.
Trying to figure out what is going to happen each day is becoming exhausting.
And the best weather app, shows none of it. So frustrating, because this seems to be a micro-climate thing.
A few miles away they get so much rain the highway floods and you can't cross.
This is life, but it's not just weather.
Weather just makes the lesson harder to ignore.
The clouds roll in, the thunder starts, the app says one thing, the sky says another, and we are left standing in the middle trying to decide what to believe.
Trying to figure everything out ahead of time is impossible.
We use the best resources available to make an informed decision.
But what happens when that's not enough?
Two nights ago I didn't cook because a storm seemed imminent and there was no time to cook if the power was going to go out like it has before.
And then nothing. I ate based on what I thought was going to happen, and it didn't play out that way.
I woke up hungry because I didn't eat as I normally would have.
So last night when it started getting dark out and the thunder started, I decided to make a fresh pizza even though it was earlier than I wanted to eat. But I wanted to make sure I had food.
I was responding based on what had happened the day before.
What's a girl to do?
And yet, the power didn't go out. I could have made whatever I wanted, when I wanted.
But I wasn't sure, so I hedged my bet and made dinner early, and something I could heat up the next day, just in case.
This is starting to feel like playing roulette.
It's just a game of chance.
Do things like this play out in your life?
You're doing your best to build the best plan for now and the future based on the information you currently have and past experience.
But what happens when your experience leaves you with no idea based on what's going on now?
How do you respond to what's going on around you?
The ground seems to be shifting faster than we can figure things out.
What now?
At some point we have to make a decision and go with it, regardless of what we run into as it plays out.
We make a plan and do what we do and stop trying to second guess how things are going to turn out.
For some reason, I'm letting this take me off my game when it comes to dinner.
Maybe because I don't normally wonder if the power is going to go off at a given moment every day.
We focus on patterns and make the rules of how we live our lives based on them.
When we can't find any kind of consistency to make rules, we don't know what to do.
That's where trust has to become more flexible than the plan.
Because if our peace depends on knowing exactly what will happen next, then every dark cloud becomes a threat.
Maybe it's something we have in common with robots or AI. We need rules, history, and guardrails.
But, now as I hear the thunder getting louder, nature laughs at our plans.
So maybe the practice is not figuring it all out before we move.
Maybe the practice is making the best decision we can with what we know, and staying present enough to adjust when life gives us new information.
Sometimes that means cooking early.
Sometimes it means waiting.
Sometimes it means eating pizza when you wanted something else.
And sometimes it means looking out the window and giving in to what is, instead of what we planned for, or what we wanted it to be.
Today's Gentle Practice
Think about one place where you've been trying to figure everything out ahead of time.
Ask yourself:
What decision can I make with the information I have right now?
You don't have to predict the whole storm.
Just choose the next honest thing.
Then stay present enough to adjust if life gives you new information.
Your peace does not have to depend on having the perfect forecast.
With you,
Lynn
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