Day 3: Jazz
The gifts of going off script
New year, new me! This is the trip around the sun where I’ll make it all count. The universe shall bend to my each and every expectation — I need only ask. The fruits of the complete human experience are mine for the taking! All that stands in the way of this moment and my complete and utter fulfillment is to follow this intricately crafted set of instructions I’ve outlined for myself.
— anonymous New Year’s Resolver
The PLAN. All one needs is to draw up one of these magical frameworks and any deficiency in life is well on it’s way towards inevitable abundance.
I began this morning with an outline of how the day was to go; a series of bullet points on a piece of dotted Moleskine paper I’d lovingly crafted the night before.
Nothing will stand in the way of my completion of these intricately plotted and absolutely essential endeavors!
— enthusiastic Self, upon completion of the next day’s list
What I had failed to predict in the whimsy of the previous evening’s designs was the gravitational force of a good book.
The first bullet point in my six point plan for the day had called for 30 minutes of reading. “Easy enough!” I thought to myself. I set the book out on my desk, angled the reading light just so and nodded at the room in acknowledgement of my incredible foresight regarding my future self and his successes in the coming day.
Upon waking, I sauntered down to my study, coffee in hand, ready to check the first day’s item off of the list. Timer started, I dove in.
Ok. Time’s up, but there are only 5 pages left in this chapter…I’ll just add another 30 minutes and consider myself a proper over-achiever.
— a contemplative addict in denial
I finished that book this evening. It was quite a ride!
As I sit down this evening to sketch out tomorrow’s plan, I’m confronted by a list for today that remains largely incomplete. Still, I’m inclined to reject my instinct towards harshness with myself for falling short of perfection on this day. Instead, I’ve thought about the gifts that are available to those who have the courage to stray from a clearly defined path.
Today, my gift was a wonderful story. I’m eager to discover what gifts might be found in between the bullet points I’ve outlined for tomorrow.
