Planning

I know that throughout my various posts these past couple years, the subject of TIME has come up quite a bit . . . and once again, I find myself pondering this concept as I reflect on what we've been doing, where we are going, and where we might end up.

When I was younger, even throughout my 20's, I always had a "plan." And most of the time this "plan" involved some point in the future, somewhere much further down the road. It probably started when I began thinking about college, and really didn't slow down until these past couple years . . .when and where I was going to college, what degree I was going to get, when I was going to graduate, what my next degree would be and where I would get it, when I would get married, when I would have kids, when I would be done with school once and for all, where I would work, and where we might move. But then we moved to Hawaii, and something changed.

When we moved here, I PLANNED on working, PLANNED on arranging child care for the kids, PLANNED on saving more money, and somehow PLANNED on enjoying life in Hawaii while doing all that other stuff. And then something happened. Things simply did not go as PLANNED.

As you may recall, I wrote an entry long ago about the process that we went through in deciding that I would stay at home with the kids for the time being. Without rehashing that entire discussion, we simply looked at the pros (more money, putting my education to use, work experience, and my sanity :)) versus the cons (commute, child care expenses, lack of available jobs, inflexibility, Brian's work schedule) of me working, and decided that it was in our family's best interest for me to stay home. And, as most of you know, this has been perhaps the hugest "blessing in disguise" of my entire life. I have enjoyed this opportunity more than I could have ever imagined.

It seems, however, as a direct result of all this, time seems to be slipping through my fingertips faster than I can even comprehend. I continually ask myself, how is it that we have already been here in Hawaii two and a half years? How is it that we only have a year and a half left? How is it that Charley is already five years old and will be in kindergarten next year? How is it that it has been nearly a year since I've seen my siblings? How is it that Bev was just here for an entire month, when it seems like only yesterday that she walked through the door?

I guess the lesson can best be summed up by the good 'ol saying, "Time flies when you are having fun." Boy, this couldn't be any closer to the truth. As hard as I try to press my heels into the ground and slow our time here in Hawaii down, it does not seem to be working. So, since that's a bust, I figure all I can do is savor every moment that we have left, however long that may be.

Don't get me wrong, I still love to imagine the future, think about where we might end up, dream about where life will take us. But sometime in these past couple years, I learned that sometimes not having a plan ends up being way more fun, and that sometimes you can have the most solid plan in the world, and yet life will throw a curve ball totally changing all your plans. And sometimes this new path will end up being more amazing than anything you could have possibly created by planning.

So you heard it here first, my friends . . . my New Year's resolution is to embrace this concept they call "going with the flow" . . . I know, I know, I can already hear the chuckles, but I promise, I will try my best . . . because sometimes "plans" just don't work out, right? ;)