When Things Don't Go to Plan

But whose plan are we talking about?

I love classes. They always get me energised and excited, and despite my brain’s occasional protestations, I like meeting new people (I do brain, put a sock in your socially anxious brain farts). So it’s no surprise I was looking forward to my poetry class.

I’d already left the previous class early after receiving ‘the call’ from my son’s school: your son is unwell, please come and collect him. This time, I was ready to get stuck in. I’d caught up on the class slides, I’d done my ‘homework’ (it doesn’t feel like homework when it’s something you’ve chosen) and I’d mentally prepared myself to read out the poem I’d written. It was going to be great.

Surely the God’s couldn’t resist a snigger at my well laid plans when I walked into my son’s bedroom to be greeted by groans of, ‘I don’t feel well.’ Hand to clammy forehead confirmed it, this boy was not going to school. Type 1 diabetes diagnosis aside, he hardly ever gets ill. I was sure there was a God somewhere (maybe more than one) pointing down at me and laughing their ass(es) off.

I sent my apologies to the teacher and let the class go, along with everything else on my ‘to-do list’ for that day. My son began to feel better in the afternoon, so we played some games and walked the dog in the seldom-seen sunshine. He chatted, I listened. Despite his being unwell, it was a great day. In the whirlwind that is secondary school life, it’s hard to find time to spend together. Days with my children can often feel like they consist of questions and demands.

Have you seen my tie/maths book/phone? Shut up. I’m not going.

Have you showered/done your homework? Find another way to say that. Yes, you are going.

The time we do spend together can feel shoe-horned in, often happening just before bed when none of us have got much left to give. But this was a day just for time with my son, and I realised how much we needed it.

I think the Rolling Stones said it best:

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need

Things might not always go to our plan, but that’s not to say they’re not going to a plan. Perhaps those Gods aren’t laughing after all, perhaps they’re smiling warmly.

Photo by Cathy Mü on Unsplash

Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.

Eckhart Tolle

Speaking of best laid plans, this post was supposed to go up on Saturday, but once again life had other ideas. Though I did get to spend lots of time with my wonderful family, who can ask for more than that on a weekend?

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans

John Lennon