Embracing Uncertainty: How to React When Plans Fail

I am one of those weirdos that absolutely loves making spreadsheets. I, when I worked in my capacity as an advanced practice nurse, I actually got to do this for a living. It was the best job ever because I would plan projects, and I love planning. I love planning anything. And putting it in a spreadsheet just brings me so much joy because it's so beautiful and you can color code it and put dates and deadlines in it. And I just. I apply this principle to my entire life. I am a planner. I always have been, ever since I was a kid.

I write post it notes. I make to do lists. I actually do make spreadsheets when I go on vacation. Like multiple spreadsheets with research and reference numbers to the guidebook for the trip. It's kind of excessive, but I am a planner through and through, and that's just how I was made, and I'm okay with that. And I was reflecting on this with a friend the other day of how much I have tried to plan my life and how drastically different it looks. I can't even begin to tell you how crazy my life is right now that I would have never expected.

I mean, let's just back up 1520 years here, okay? Like, let's think about graduating from high school. What was my career aspiration? I actually always wanted to be an actress when I was younger, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I got a math degree, and I didn't really want to teach. And I was like, but you know what? Sales sounds like a great profession. So I did sales for a little while. Loved it. Then life tragedy happens. I was raped, and I ended up because of that experience going into nursing.

And then I thought, wow, now I finally figured out what I'm going to do for the rest of my life is be a nurse, because I want to help people on the worst day of their lives. And then that morphed into becoming an advanced practice nurse and going and getting my doctorate in nursing and then finding a career where I got to make spreadsheets for a living and got to do a lot of projects and just some really cool stuff to make a difference in the hospital. And then God called me to quit my job. So I now work as a life coach and a speaker, and I'm just, like, baffled at how drastically different my life looks like from even two years ago.

Two years ago at this time in April, I was contemplating moving for a job that I didn't even look for. Literally dropped in my lap and thought, why would I entertain this. I own a house in Minnesota. I don't plan on moving. My whole family's here. This is crazy. I would have never imagined I'd be a southern California girl, although I now have the blonde hair to go with it. But I just, like, never would have imagined that I would be doing this today. And I just. I've really been reflecting on this because I love to plan, and it gives me that sense of safety and security to plan, but then to know that that can just go out the window in a second.

Like, things happen to us in life, horrible things happen to people in life. Traumas happen, and it changes your life forever. My friend's daughter just broke her arm a few days ago, and let me tell you, that drastically changed their Sunday and then the rest of her week because she had to take off work to go to doctor's appointments and figure out if her daughter was getting surgery. And it made her realize, wow, I probably need to cut back on work because my daughter, my family is so important to me.

Like, things can change in an instant. I mean, not to, like, go around expecting that your life is gonna just, like, all of a sudden come crashing down, but we can plan and plan and have the best of intention for what we want to happen. And it might not look like that. So I started to think, do I keep planning? Should I keep planning for the future? Because right now, I can tell you my future looks so uncertain, and I've never had my future look this uncertain. I don't know, like, what my finances look like, really.

I don't know what my relationship looks like. I don't know when I'm gonna get married. I just. I don't know how long I'll stay in Southern California. Like, I have no idea. And it is really unsettling to live in this place of uncertainty because it's so unfamiliar for me, and it goes against every fiber of my being to not plan. And that doesn't mean I just sit around and let life happen to me. I do make plans, but how can I be really intentional about those plans? Because knowing that I need to also be adaptable for what's going to happen, what's going to change, and what opportunities are going to be presented.

Because one of the things I used to find security in and planning was preparing for the worst. And what I'm realizing is right now, I'm still a planner, but I'm also preparing for the best. I'm preparing that this business endeavor is going to take off. I'm preparing that this relationship is going to continue to be fruitful, and that it's gonna move towards marriage. You know what I mean? Like, so you can be planning and intentional, but be planning for the best instead of planning for the worst.

So I would just encourage you to think about that. Like, if you resonate with me and you're a planner and you. You try to plan to avoid the worst happening, you're also planning to avoid the best that could happen. So what does that look like for you? It looks like, keep planning. Keep taking the next steps, and. And then also just allow God to show up and allow opportunities to come your way, because life is a crazy, wild ride, and it's a journey that we only get to do once, so just cherish every day of it.

Thank you, guys. God bless.