The Best Laid Plans

I’m a planner. I have detailed calendars with events neatly penciled in, and I plan out months in advance what I’m going to do. This slightly annoying characteristic has really helped out with those thirty-three experiences this year. (No, I did not have one of those experiences this weekend. Apparently, I need to plan better. Go figure.) I did have this wonderful weekend planned. Each day of my weekend was lined up and mapped out for me. Then, of course, it all fell apart and gave way to spontaneous, random events instead.

First, plans fell through on Friday night, so I spontaneously decided to go to the movies by myself instead of staying home and watching one. It was a horrible movie. The movie was missing my favorite part which would be an actual storyline, but I learned that I don’t really care anymore if I have to do something on my own. Hello independence.

Saturday morning when I awoke, I thought it was to attend the Madhatter’s event in Thibodaux until I got a call that morning to confirm my seat for Sunday. A rearrangement of plans had to be made for I’d already made plans for Sunday. The result was I was able to spend the entire afternoon with my cousin Scott. We sat on his mom’s front porch for hours, relaxing. Something I hadn’t done in so long that I can’t remember the last time that I had, relaxing that is. For the first time in a long time, I had that childlike feeling of being able to just be in the moment instead of rushing off to accomplish all the things on my crazy list.

Plans for Saturday night fell through again and made it possible for me to enjoy a glass of wine (or two) with a close friend and much needed friend time. There is nothing like spending time with a girlfriend and talking about everything going on in your world.

After my scheduling mistake, Sunday meant I had two things to do, so it began with the Madhatter’s. Even with my teenage obsession with fashion, I’d never attended a fashion show before. I enjoyed the experience and plan to attend with my daughter next year, for she would love to watch now that fashion has become her obsession.

The second event of Sunday was to learn how to edit digital media. My list of what I want to know how to do grows daily, and I plan to continue pursuing new learning experiences. But then unexpectedly, I had dinner with two great people and another great time during this spontaneous weekend.

By far, the best experiences of my weekend were those things that happened when plans were rearranged. So the lesson learned this weekend is that maybe I need to slow down, just a bit. This over planning my weekend is not necessarily leading to the best experiences. Maybe the impulsive side of my personality needs a little more leeway. Hmm… not so sure about that one, but at least maybe I should learn to enjoy the little moments.