When Plans Change (For the Better)

“There are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life, every one of them sufficient.”
-Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

This is just a quick post, since I’m feeling inspired and wanted to write something non-poetry related for the first time in a while. I was originally going to post about a very different subject, but something happened tonight that changed my mind.

It’s so funny how quickly your night, or your life, can change.

We can sometimes be resistant to change, for understandable reasons. I’m probably the worst at accepting when things just aren’t the same. Sometimes it feels unfair, as if I did something to warrant a change I didn’t want. At times, that might be accurate. Other times, though, it’s just the weather.

No human being is responsible for the rain, but we all feel its effects anyway.

As this year draws to a close (finally), I know that everyone reading this has felt the rain this year, and not the kind of gentle rain I tend to fawn over. This rain has been brutal, the kind that shoots right into you through your clothes. Almost all of us have gotten drenched in one way or another. It isn’t the best feeling.

Every so often, though, something happens that reminds you that you’re still here for a reason, that you’re still on the right track even when you feel like you aren’t. It might be something only you recognize, like an inside joke between you and the universe.

Tonight, I’m grateful for little reminders, unexpected phone calls, and the joyful derailment of plans. I’m grateful for the capacity to smell the sweetness in the air after the rain, even if my clothes aren’t fully dry yet.

May we hold onto these moments, and always be open to more of them.

-D.

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