“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” -Robert Burns
When I am home, I walk daily, checking the weather to see when the timing is best. In the heat of summer, I try to get out early, and in deep winter, I go in the afternoon, but before it gets dark. Always, I avoid the rain.
When I travel on one of my solo hiking trips, I also check the weather and plan accordingly.
I cannot plan my hikes around the weather when I travel with a group. We hike no matter the rain or cold or heat. We are on a schedule, and no allowances are made for comfort. If the weather was dangerous, our leaders would capitulate and come up with other plans, but usually, we hike on.
This has made me a bit more flexible when it comes to hiking in all kinds of weather. If I can trek along in cold, blowing rain in Switzerland, what’s a little drizzle? It’s just water after all. I have the luxury at home to schedule my walks and hikes, but when I am away, I want to take advantage of my time in the different location.
Today, for example, the forecast called for rain in the morning, then clearing with a high of 55 degrees, though cloudy. Perfect hiking weather. So, I planned to stay in and do some work, then head out for lunch, then a hike, followed by a beer at a local brewery. I guess that I am still a bit rigid, because, by golly, that was the plan, so I stuck with it, even though it was raining throughout lunch and while on my drive to the trail I had picked. It was still misting when I pulled into the parking area.
“Oh, well. It’s only water, and I have my rain jacket with its hood,” I told myself.
It’s past peak autumn leaf season here in North Georgia, but still pretty enough. The most colorful leaves littered the trail and the forest floor, and the drizzle caused them to glisten and shine. The deep forest is still peaceful and life-giving in the rain, and my spirits soared as they always do whenever I step into the woods on a sparsely populated trail.
Isn’t this a bit like our lives? We can make plans, and decide the best timing for certain events, but in the end, we take what we get. There is no certainty that our plans will carry out the way we want, but we go forward nonetheless. We have to. Even if it’s raining and chilly.
Maybe we plan to retire at a certain age, but circumstances make that goal impossible. Maybe we decide that we want to start a family at a certain age, but it just never happens. Maybe a long-awaited vacation is cancelled due to a death in the family. Maybe we plan to buy a new house in the coming months, but the interest rate shoots up.
Major and minor events crop up and destroy “the best-laid plans” all the time. We can’t change “the weather,” we can only change how we respond to it.
We have to be flexible enough to pivot and go with whatever presents itself. Being mad, raging about our unfair fate, or sinking into despair does not change the situation. These are often valid emotional responses, though, and shouldn’t be ignored, but processed.
Yes, plans are fine, as far as you can rely on them. But bending with whatever the Universe throws at us takes adaptability, resilience, and a positive attitude. Because maybe that disrupted plan is only water after all.