Public speaking? Check. Getting up early? Check. Dancing with rhythm? Check. Going on holidays by myself? Check. Wow look at me!!! So clever, good at lots of things! Yes yes! But don't ask me to plan, to organize, or think too far in the future!! That's never been my forte, its never come easily to me and to be honest I don't think it ever will be.
Step up my latest experiences!! A wedding away from home where my girlfriend at the time was a bridesmaid. With my trusty side-kick organizing most of the weekend, the seemingly simple task of pre-booking some accommodation for myself while she was on bridesmaid duties was my only task. With approximately six months to book I left it to late in the afternoon of the same day to find some accommodation. Yep!! Idiot I hear you say and yes of course everything in Byron Bay is booked out, no options and with no tent - even the camp sites weren't an option.
Let the adventure begin! Now this isn't a tale of chance meetings or fortunate events. It's about learning to see the gems in our short comings. It's about recognizing what are flaws are and seeing the good in them. Sure, I was probably annoyed I had to travel to the next town to find my accommodation, but it was a place I'd never been. It was yet another place in this wide world I hadn't been to and now would love to go back.
But the real gift from my relaxed nature / not being organized was my morning run! Like a warm blanket on a cold winters morning we don't want to lift off, a blanket of dark black cloud had refused to lift from the day before. Certainly not the ideal weather for a wedding day and very unmotivating to go for a run in! My training schedule required me to go for a long run - so run I did. After resisting temptation to stay in bed, I stepped out into the element and realized I was going to be chaperoned by dark, heavy rain clouds. A jagged and angry, yet mystical coastline, enthusiastic surfers, dog owners and their best friends and the occasional violent yet exhilarating downpour of rain. It was heaven! I had one of the best runs ever and even yelled with glee at the sheer simplicity and chance encounter.
Sure it was a little extra stress the night before, not having a place to stay, sure I was by myself and didn't have kids to worry about and sure I'm the sort of person happy to sleep in a cave. But one must consider the expectations we set and how the alter our state of mind. I was gifted with a magical experience because I didn't plan my accommodation. But I didn't have an expectation of where I would stay or what type of place I'd stay in in the first place. I didn't get upset or angry because I hadn't invested any emotion or thought into where I would stay.
Granted, this experience isn't for everyone and of course not planning in advance has cost me big time in the past and I'm sure it will in the future. But if I / we continue to let our expectations control our habits and thoughts we often miss out on the little gems in life. Being adaptive and accepting of your immediate situation is a skill and its very hard for us to let go of expectations. But the more we can be open to letting things happen and just rolling with the punches, we can get some truly magical nuggets that can make life all that more rich.
I dare you to plan a holiday and not book accommodation before you leave, only take carry on luggage, leave something to the last minute, try a new recipe on the night of a dinner party, go for a walk in a new town and not take your phone, or go for a drive and not look at a map! Get lost in the adventure of life, because it isn't meant to be a pre-organized sequential format that we must follow.
