I was never much of a life planner, as I knew some of my friends in high school and even in college to be. They had clear plans and clear goals about what they were going to do and where they were going to do it. I was much less of a planner, with some vague conception of "I will have to do something someday, somewhere".
I cannot speak for all of them - I speak to almost none of them - but I am willing to bet good money (based on my own circumstances) that very few of them ended up where or what they expected.
I wonder if life was always like this - I expect not, as (in those days of yore we all speak of) those choices were a lot less available and the world was not nearly as malleable as it is now. States, political theories, entire industries - they did not change as they do now. Travel was not as nearly convenient as it is now (or relatively inexpensive).
I would guess that I am grateful - after all, I have seen things and done things that I never would have expected if I had stuck to my vague idea of a plan. And yet, at the back of my mind I always wonder: if I had truly planned better (instead of drifting), how differently would things have turned out?
But if you had formulated a detailed plan, would you still be you?
ReplyDeleteGood question. I did not plan to join the Air Force and meet my husband. I had no plan other than living with my parents. My older brother talked me into it. No job market in Muskegon, Mi then. Two of my brothers went down and took the entrance exam. I ended up in the Air Foece, meeting my husband of now 44 years. One brother went to St. Louis and decided he was gay. The other has done several things and had 2 or 3 wives. All the brothers who stayed home have had more than one wife. (Except the gay one. He and his partner have been together almost as long as hubby and I. I pray for them.)
ReplyDeleteSo who knows?
Quite possibly not Leigh. I should not have had the variety of adventures and done the different things that I have. So in a very real sense, no - at least not the person who I am today.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, I had not much of a plan coming out of college. I truly wish that at least for that, I had a better one. It might have made some things a bit easier.
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