This Is What We're Doing Now?

 * Originally posted on my Wordpress blog 03.14.2020

I saw a silly meme somewhere the other day that said:

Honestly, I don't even play an active role in my life anymore.... Things just happen and I'm like ,"Oh  is this what we're doing now? Okay."

That resonated so strongly with me.  It's fun to laugh at the sentiment, but you're laughing at the truth. And the more you accept that as the truth, the easier life might prove to be.

Let's face it.  Life is nothing if not uncertain.  We human beings walk around thinking we've got this covered.  We know what we're doing.  We make plans and predictions and  we assume our life will unfold the way we planned and predicted.  Get those tickets for that vacay flight and start packing.  Make that appointment for the root canal and get prepared.  Work for a year on setting up a community festival and stand by until the crowd comes out.  Buy a home with a perfect yard in which kids can play and wait for the kids to arrive.  Go to bed at night and expect to get up in the morning.  How easy it is to forget that plans are just that. Plans.  Not reality.

Life is one big uncertain world.  It's full of  surprises, good and bad. Things don't go the way you think they will , good or bad.  It becomes problematical when you dig your feet in and tell Reality, "No, no, no,  Reality, you've got it wrong. That's not the plan." Because guess what?  You will never win in a fight with Reality.  Sooner or later you will have to surrender and say, "Oh, so this is what we're doing now? Okay." Like it or not.

This week the whole world is reeling with uncertainty.  Events are canceled, facts are in short supply, routines have been yanked apart, and support systems are floundering.    People are anxious.  They are being asked to hold themselves alone in the world and that does not sit well for everyone. My suggestion?  Breathe. Know that everything changes.  Stay curious. You'll manage.  Really, you will.