Maps

I was married at the ripe old age of 19 and stayed that way until I was 44 yrs old. I had 4 children and homeschooled them for 12 of those years. Regardless of the hopelessness of the marriage, I did have a very regimented rhythm to my daily life. Children tend to do that to you and home schooling only makes the schedule that much more rigid.


I spent NO time at all forecasting my life, my future, a distant map of how I expected or even hoped my life would be in 5, 10 or 20 years hence. Children, their needs and educating them defined my days, months and years. Looking ahead to the time when I would be divorced, make major life changes and be the parent of adult children was never a blip on my radar screen.
Sound familiar?


So, now, here I am. I’ve spent the past 12 or 13 years since my divorce flying by the seat of my pants or on the coattails of another, not even thinking about the fact that my time wearing this earth suit is not finite. I have limited time remaining. Rather than make endless lists of places I want to visit or experiences I want to have and projects I want to complete, I am now working on maps, actual steps with an actual time table to give me more concrete parameters. Though I rebel against rigidity, there is no way to get from here to there without a plan. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail...” preparing for the future is typically ignored because of a preoccupation with today. Of course if you’ve read any of my stuff, you’ve heard me preach loudly about living in the moment but that does not preclude planning for the future.


So I’ve started with predicting, as best as I am able, how much time I have left, how long I intend to work where I currently work and where I want to live, work and be in the next 5, 10 and hopefully, 20 yrs. For me, getting my health in order is TOP priority because everything else falls to ashes (pun intended) without good health. I’ve set up a daily and weekly plan with goals and rewards for attaining such.


Next are my finances. Though I don’t have a heavy debt load it is enough that I need a plan to unencumber myself. I have not worked for a company or corporation to rack up a retirement so I have zip, zero, zilch in that department. I definitely need a strong plan on how I will accrue enough funds to not be a burden to anyone as I age. That plan is currently in the works.


There are many other areas of my life that need investigation but I, like many of you, can only handle a few biggies at a time. Send good vibes my way as I breathe in this moment and plan for the next.