Going With The Flow
I’m not going to lie. It takes work, planning and thinking to be organized. In fact, my mind never stops thinking and planning ahead to make my life and my family’s life simpler. I guess you can say that I love knowing my family and I run like a well-oiled machine. We are rarely (if ever) caught running out the door, stressed to get somewhere on time, or without the things we need for a certain event. Some of you might be saying at this point, “Well...aren't you lucky.” No – luck has nothing to do with it. It has everything to do with planning ahead, being organized, and working hard.In saying all of that (listed above), I guess you can safely say that there’s a bit of a ‘control’ factor involved. Would I consider myself a control freak? No. Would I consider myself a perfectionist? No. I’m just a person who thrives on structure as I see so many benefits for my family and others around me.
What is a person to do if they go through all the work of being organized, have things planned out AND THEN plans change?
I've been asked, “How do you handle it? Doesn't it frustrate you to know that all of your hard work seems to be for nothing?” My answer to that is, ‘Yes, sometimes it truly bugs the hell right out of me.” Especially when it’s something that can be controlled. This is one of my favorite quotes of all times:
“Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. “
Other times, when it’s something that you have no control, you just have to take a step back and assess the situation. I came across this blog post written by Leo Babauta titled, “12 Practical Steps for Learning to Go With the Flow”. Here are his 12 :
- Realize that you can’t control everything
- Become aware
- Breathe
- Get perspective
- Practice
- Baby steps
- Laugh
- Keep a journal
- Meditate
- Realize that you can’t control others
- Accept change and imperfection
- Enjoy life as a flow of change, chaos and beauty.
While I don’t personally follow all 12 (I don’t journal, nor do I meditate), I do laugh a lot and I deep breathe when I find myself frustrated. Trust me, you’ll know when I’m breathing deeply!
What it really comes down to is being aware. For the people who tend to be a bit disorganized, be more aware of the time and effort it takes to organize something. Be respectful of those who work hard and go the extra mile to ensure everything is all planned out.For the people who are highly organized, the same holds true to you. Be aware. Be aware that not everything is going to go as planned. There will be curve balls thrown at you and that the only person you can control is yourself. Be willing and able to adapt if need be.Lao-Tzu has a great quote that I’ll leave you with:
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”