Life is made up of the sum total of all of our decisions. Those decisions – good, bad or indifferent – come into play at every turn in our life’s journey. At any one point the decisions that we do make are usually made with the best judgment we had at the time given the circumstances and the interpersonal dynamics present. What makes it somewhat complicated is that there are decisions being made by others that either, positively or negatively, directly impact our lives.
Such was the case as I listened to a relative speak to decisions that she and her spouse made. The process went something like this, “Well, when ‘Jack’ goes off to play college basketball we will …” or “When ‘Jack’ gets older and is out of the house we will …” Well, ‘Jack’ is off to college now and out of the house. He isn’t playing basketball any longer because of the negative influence of the high school basketball coach. Plus, her “spouse” has cancer and is slowly dying. As they say, “the best laid plans of mice and men” are all for naught now.
We all make decisions that place our plans and hopes on “hold” until the future arrives, but, just as the above illustration indicates, all too often other things impact those plans and hopes and they simply never get realized. My relative isn’t regretting making the decisions that they made, but is finding it laughable, in a sad way, that all of their plans cannot be realized because of circumstances beyond their control.
We’ve made changes in our plans to “travel across America” so that we can be present in the lives of our grandchildren. We did this willingly and with absolutely no regret. We wouldn’t have changed the last two years for anything and look forward to the next five or six years. But, after listening to the relative share her insights, I’m beginning to think that just maybe we need to be a little more creative with our time so that we can experience some of our hopes and plans within the context of still being involved in the grandchildren’s lives. If we don’t, then time will have passed us by and just possibly, those dreams will become nothing more than just dreams.
As the saying goes, “don’t put off until tomorrow that which you can accomplish today.” That goes for the decisions surrounding our hopes and dreams for our lives. Either we make those decisions or others, as well as circumstances, will be making them for us.
Quote for today: The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. J.M. Power
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