What Comes Next

I feel like I spend lots of time balancing between excitement about what comes next and appreciation of what’s going on right now.  As my parents tell it, I’ve always been a great one for plans: I’m going to do this, then this will happen, then I’ll do this….  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that having plans is all well and good, as long as I don’t get hung up on whether or not they’ll actually happen.  I enjoy thinking about the all the places I’ll go, to misquote Dr. Seuss, but it’s important to remember that imagining the future does not guarantee it.  It’s sometimes difficult to find that balance, the line that separates optimism and hope from trying to rigidly control the future.  I think yoga helps me do this.  As long as I can remember to breathe, to let go of my expectations and preconceptions, I can move through each moment without drama, without attachment to my wonderful ideas.  As long as I can inhabit my body, I can switch my focus from where it needs to go to where it is right now.  This doesn’t mean that I no longer think about what comes next–I think that might always be a part of me… I like to imagine the possibilities.  Instead, I’ll imagine the future and be open to whatever shape it takes when it comes.  When I’m doing yoga regularly, I’m grounded in my body, in my breath, in my relationship with myself.  As long as I can center myself here, I don’t feel like I get caught by or overly invested in my daydreams.  So for now, I have fun thinking about the possibilities (and they really do feel endless), but am not convinced that any one of them is more likely than another.