Having just had a birthday, I sat in church today and considered that I have no clue where I am going from here. I have a few projects that are part of my current life and certainly plenty of work that needs to be finished, but as far as a big picture plan, goal or aspiration, well, no, I find myself completely without one.
I have to ask myself if this is simply part of growing older. When I was younger, I knew that I wanted a family, a career and spiritual home and I set about building all of these. Now that these are firmly in place, I am at that spot of, “Okay, now what?”
I have goals as a writer, of course, but they are not set in stone like they used to be. Now I am more flexible, more forgiving of my less than consistent effort on my work-in-progress or my short stories. This is probably where I would center any goal that comes to mind: consistently write everyday on these projects with the aim of publication. What about other parts of my life?
I want to know that I have enough money to be comfortable. I think that is a reasonable goal. Also, I want my life organized. That only makes sense. In addition, I love hanging out time with family and friends. That is definitely one of my goals. I want to give back to my community. I have that covered at least at the moment at the Homeless Breakfast. What else?
I want to move up to Master of Ceremonies at my church one of these days. That is the only job I have not yet been trained for. That will come when I have time to train. The head acolyte has already spoken to me about learning the ropes on that final position.
I guess the big question is whether my lack of a plan is a positive indicator of my Be-Here-Now mind set or simply bad long-term planning. I’d like to think that it’s my more mature ability to recognize that a plan can certainly be made, but the chances that it will unfold as one imagines are slim to none. Something better may well come along or something that initially feels much worse. Ultimately, everything will shake down and be just fine.
So, older, wiser friends come to my aid. Do you plan a lot or do you trust that your life will naturally unfold? I could use a little guidance on this. My inclination is to have a general plan, but nothing too restrictive or demanding. That doesn’t sound like much fun, at all. Share your wisdom, please, if you’d be so kind.
A conceptual look at life or business goals, with similar concepts.
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