My new girlfriend has asked me twice already about my plans. Her question feels like one of the lines from the 2009 book and 2012 rom-com “Think like a man, act like a woman”: what are your (short term & long term) goals? I’m not sure that I have any, apart from reconnecting with my daughter. Recently, I reconnected with my BFF. That leaves only one item on my bucket list.
I doubt that the intention of buying stuff qualifies as a plan, let alone a goal. I even doubt that considering a future relocation – either abroad or within my country or both – qualifies.
Perhaps, my new girlfriend is worried about my living in the here and now. I’m not. For decades, my life was about making future plans and striving to realise them. Then my 2013-2014 burnout happened. Each day, my only plan is to write a new blog article that is better than the previous one(s). For me, that’s a challenge. For her, it might not be enough.
I don’t see the point in changing my habits. My current life is about avoiding stress. The Dark side nearly caught me in 2013. I have no intention, whatsoever, to revisit that dark episode of my life. I now know what I’m up against. I prefer not to challenge my fate. Why would I? There’s no Need or Want involved. I believe in my current choices and priorities.
Some day, these may have to change. I’ll see it when I get there (lyrics, video, Wiki). Change is easy to accept once you need, want or believe in it. Else, you will start fighting Change – and you will lose. Moreover, the more we have, the more we fight Change (my 2016 blog). The less you have, the more you embrace Change (my 2016 blog).
I’m not sure what to make of her question about me (not) having plans. My daily “plan” is to learn and to teach what I’ve learned (my blogs). Not sure if that qualifies for her though. Still, learning and teaching might be the most fundamental human task in life (eg, family, school, sport, work). I believe that what I’m doing qualifies me for still being around. Is that a plan? Perhaps.
“I am a person who continually destroys the possibilities of a future because of the numbers of alternative viewpoints I can focus on the present.” A quote from the 1962 novel The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing (1919-2013), “a British-Zimbabwean (Rhodesian) novelist”.
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