Patience in Planning

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Thinking back to the most successful diet plan I ever had, my mantra back then was an easy and acceptable one to this one who was reluctant to give up the foods she loved: “You can still eat whatever you want… just not all on the same day.”

I was willing to stick to the plan if it meant I could still have pizza and chips… but in measured amounts at specific moments in time. I could still have it all… just not all at the same time.

So Ann Voskamp’s blog on the subject of women’s desire or ability to “have it all” in life rings true to me. There were lots of “not now”s and “later!”s in my marriage and motherhood years… but they worked together to create a life I loved an am still enjoying today.

I’m finding the same to be true in retirement. I entered it with a long list of things to do or try, now that I am schedule-free. And I was dismayed to realize that I couldn’t do it all… at least, not all at once. In the year and a half that I’ve been work-free, I’ve learned to likewise be worry-free about my retired life and lists. I realize now that I can do it all – just not all in the same day, week, month, or year. And there is such beauty and rest in this realization! I focus on the current project (or line on the to-do list!), whether it be a home repair/upgrade, a writing plan, a summer reading project, or an upcoming event to prepare for. And I let myself devote my time and attention to that one item alone, knowing the others will have their time and place eventually as well.

As usual, Ann Voskamp expressed it best: “All the seasons, one at a time, make a full year”… and a full life.

“ To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV)