Do not worry about the future for it is not yet come.*

I’m about as anal of a planner as you can get. When I’m driving down the road, I’ve already calculated which lane I need to be in for that congested turn coming up. Or, if I’m jammed at a particular point on the road, I have back-up plans on how to get out of that mess.

Oddly, the bigger things that have happened in my life are a result of moments that just happen, despite all the planning I’ve tried to do. I wanted a Durango because I wanted a bigger car and just happened to see the ad for it in that day’s paper, so I just went down and got one – in a single day.

Perhaps it’s my sixth sense, but I seem to be more comfortable with “going with the flow” when it comes to more important things until I see that sign that’s supposed to tell me what to do. Even with deciding whether to move, it was one particular conversation that solidified for me. I just knew at that moment what the right choice was for me.

Perhaps another word for it is fate, but people tend to associate that only with love or romance, when it can really apply to anything. It almost seems like when something is planned too much, then it somehow doesn’t seem that great. Kind of anti-climactic – is that it?

We build up our anticipation and over-think, so that it becomes a disappointment because our twisted sense of reality won’t allow us to savor it. There always seems to be this urge to rock the boat, second-guess or bitch -- perhaps because it seems more "normal" or it's easier than just being happy and accepting?

I can’t count how many times someone says they found someone as soon as they stopped looking, and usually from a most unlikely source like a friend, a new chair or from literally colliding into each other. Or, an unsolicited job offer suddenly lands in your e-mail box from a former colleague. Or, the couple that stops “trying” to have kids will suddenly become pregnant. It almost seems like the sure-fire way to kill your dream is to plan for it. What an odd sense of karma that seems to apply to anyone anywhere.

Planning helps when it’s fitting to be practical, but never for what have turned into my best memories and experiences. Life is more like a series of unexpected moments that catch you off-guard, and the worst thing you can do is ignore it or be afraid of it. Sometimes you just to say “Carpe Diem,” cross your fingers, hope your Guardian Angel is watching.

*Unknown