Letting Go of the Plan

We are in week 5 of the national lockdown, and I think that we can all agree that this has been the longest April in the history of Aprils. And at this point in time, I think we're allowed to pretend that April never happened. When your kids ask you what happened in April of 2020, you have my full permission to say that it never happened. With lockdown we have lost a lot of control over our lives. Where we go, how we get there, how we get our work done and how kids are getting through school.

Some of us had big plans for this time of year. Some people were about to get married, some were about to buy a car, maybe you were even about to move to another province. Everything that we had planned, is now on pause until further notice. This has created a bit of anxiety because Covid19 is real, and our routine as we know it has gone out the window.

As human beings we love to plan because not only does it give us something to look forward to but it also gives us a sense of control. Have you ever been in a situation where nothing is going according to plan? It can feel like you are just going with the flow of the current and you have no power over what is happening or what might happen next. This lockdown period kind of feels like that. It's as if we are in an army and we just need to wait until the next instructions are given. But in the meantime we just have to wait. 

From the beginning of Lockdown there's a Bible verse that has been ringing in my head, it's James 4:14 and the Amplified Bible says : "Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen tomorrow. What is the nature of your life? You are [really] but a wisp of vapor (a puff of smoke, a mist) that is visible for a little while and then disappears [into thin air]." The rest of the passage alludes to the fact that we sometimes have so much pride in having the power to plan and control what we're going to do next, but the truth is that we do not know what tomorrow holds. 

I think that if we listen long enough, if we can silence our thoughts and fears, that we can experience the calm of not having control and not having to plan. Remember when you were a kid and you needed a jersey for Winter? You didn't have to budget for it, you didn't have to plan when you'd go to the shop to buy it, your parents made it happen for you. You didn't even have to worry about how much it would cost. The jersey appeared just in time for its season of need. I think that if we can let go of the plans, let go of the control, let go of the fears that we will experience a calm that we so terribly need. We will lose the boastful nature of thinking that all that we accomplish is entirely our doing and that we have full control of our situations. 

I am an Occupational Therapist by profession, but I have many roles that bring meaning to my life. In short, I love people, books and love.

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