Best Laid Plans

If you’re seeking reasons not to make New Year’s resolutions, look no further than what happened to us last night. We can’t be assured that our plans for the next four hours will succeed, much less those for the next 365 days.

We had planned to bring in the new year at a dance, but after a little more than an hour, Debbie started feeling a bit queasy and we decided sticking around was in no one’s best interests. So we headed home and spent the rest of the night streaming episodes of Dead Like Me via Netflix, her dozing on one couch and me on the other. We roused ourselves just in time to crawl into bed at midnight…not exactly the champagne toast that had been planned for the dance, but also not the worst thing in the world.

The good news is that she was feeling fine by morning, even arising at 7:00 and putting in some miles on the treadmill (while I slept…the best part). The only thing we can figure is that she had some kind of inner ear deal going, perhaps related to congestion in her head.

The lesson seems pretty clear, though. It’s good – even advisable – to make plans, but it’s better to recognize that we can’t control everything, and that our ability to adapt and make the best of fluid situations is essential to our emotional well-being.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but there’s value in identifying areas in my life that need improvement, and being more patient and flexible is a worthwhile goal. Perhaps 2011 will be the year that brings some progress in that area. We’ll just see how it goes (hey, I’m improving already!).