making a difference!
Change: Adapting When Life Doesn’t Go As Planned
making a difference! • my world
There are times in life when things happen much differently than you had planned.
I know a girl who had her life all mapped out. She envisioned a career, then meeting a solid man and getting married by 30, traveling with her husband, before having kids at 35. It was the way she planned it. But in college, she got pregnant by a guy she barely knew. It was an intersection moment, and it changed the course of her life.
Today she’s a stay at home, happy, fulfilled mom of three boys, who also runs her own company. And that guy she barely knew? Shes married to him. Her dreams have come true, but the path took a detour.
How about you? Has life delivered exactly what you’ve expected? Be open to the possibility that plan B, is often better than plan A. The plan you’ve so carefully constructed for your life might not be the perfect plan for your life.
I’m incredibly proud of three friends that come to mind as I write this post. They have an unlikely bond. Each one has embraced obstacles, overcome extreme adversity and are now doing their own part to change the world. Ironically, they’re all very different. One is a gay man, another a speaker and evangelist, and the third, a preacher for the homeless. They are friends now, all coming together this week for a fundraiser to help families living on the street. Their connection wasn’t planned, but it could help save a child.
Seems like an unlikely trio, but at the core, is love. And that’s how it works when we embrace the possibility that we have something to learn, by letting go of our preconceived notions, to show love to strangers.
I met all three of the men at different places, and none of the meetings were planned. The first, the preacher, I met on the streets of downtown Dallas. He lived a hard life of addiction, before he changed. But now he’s served over 500,000 meals to street people every Sunday for fifteen years. The second, Charles Horton, the Ceo of Fastbucks Corporation, I met when he asked me to come speak to his team about inspiration, and letting go. It couldn’t have been easy wrestling with being gay as a teen, and all the things that come with it. And the third, Nick Vujicic, an evangelist and author, I met at a fundraiser in Los Angeles, and we quickly became friends. Nick was born without arms or legs. Yet today he’s taken his gift of inspiration across the world, changing lives. He’s learned to adapt, and so can you.
When I think about the heart of these men, I can see that we were drawn together by love. Their fundraiser, facilitated by the CEO, will benefit the preacher’s homeless ministry, in a domino effect that will feed children, who live on the street. Those kids didn’t plan to live under a bridge, or on a concrete floor at the shelter. What will they remember from their hardship? Hopefully they’ll overcome adversity and grow up to remember the kindness of a stranger. They’ll give back, like these three men do, and then they’ll do their part to leave their legacy on the world. What about you? Don’t forget that no matter what you’ve been going through, that there’s a light on the path ahead that you can’t see. Sometimes plan A is not as good as Plan B.
I have learned the hard way that when you think you have life all figured out, it suddenly flips you on its head. At 30, I got engaged to my long-time beau, was married, then pregnant a year later, but just 9 short weeks after my first daughter was born and I was at the happiest place I could imagine, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. Two and a half years later, he was gone and I was left with a 2 1/2 year old and 10-month old baby. Being a single parent at age 34 was certainly not what I had envisioned from life. While there has been a huge adjustment and learning curve, life has been giving back in ways I could have never dreamed back when I was 30 and had the world by the tail. And that is ok. I know that life will present challenges every step of the way, and I just hope that I can be up for them.
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Be open to the possibilities. Change can be a friend. Don’t be scared. Anything is scary but be willing to take risks. Isn’t everything a risk? It is all in your perspective. Have a positive attitude. I have found that those who dwell on all the reasons not to do something end up missing out on some great joys.
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What an inspiring article. Life is what you make of it. By the way, you were featured on the Biz e-Friday Countdown 2.25.11 on our website.