It is time to plan for the coming month. I rarely accomplish all I plan to do, and that is just fine.
The first rule of planning is: Plans change.
Rule two is that there are no rules, only guidelines.
Guideline 3: Treasure each moment by living in the moment.
Today I am in a beautiful city I first visited forty years ago. I could focus on what I cannot do today because I have my large dog with me and my husband is in meetings all day. But that would decrease my joy of living today as fully or at least as best I can.
My husband is doing what he loves. He is making theworld a better place by serving on an NIH panel. I am so proud of the organic chemistry he has producd that makes the living world a better understood and healthier place, and that he can also contribute at the higher level of advancing the research of other scientists, as he is doing today, by being activity in the national research community.
Buddy, my neapolitan mastiff companion, and I went out for an hour and a half walk around Union Square. He was happy to relieve himself and I was happy to have a cup of coffee and people watch.
The best moment was when I had the pleasure of choosing a pastry. There in front of me was a simple bit of dough folded over and crimped around a bit of cream with sugar. My mother would make these for me when I was little and she had a bit of dough left over after making pies. The taste brought back one of the nice memories of Mom who left this world 10 years ago yesterday.
Having coffee and pastry with my best pup and my mother, even if only in memory or across timeless mysterious dimensional divides, this morning was a beautiful gift.
So today I plan, and if I do not accomplish all I plan, that is okay, because something akin to pastry with my mother in San Francisco might unexpectedly present itself to me.
I love the rules and the guideline. Sooo true. Flexibility is one of the keys to happiness, I think. Because if you are open, and even if the plan is a very good one, sometimes a serendipitous happening opens another door that you just have to peek through.
Mary, I really trust serendip as a guiding principle. “Pasteur stated, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” Preparation and openness promote discovery.