I remember back when I was in college, really stressed about trying to map out every single step of my future. I had this whole five year plan laid out for what grad school I'd go to, what job I'd get, even who I'd be married to. But there was no room in that plan for chance encounters, falling in love with someone unexpected, or finding my true calling.
A classmate of mine laughed when she saw my spreadsheets trying to script out my twenties. Life really does have a way of surprising you, she warned me. But I didn't want to leave anything to chance.
Well, it ended up that she was right. One day I had a chancing of talking with a professor after class who worked in a whole other field. After our chat, I suddenly saw possibilities I never knew existed. If I'd been so rigidly sticking to my plan, I never would've taken his office hours or learned about that cool opportunity.
Nowadays I keep a general idea of where I want to end up, but I try to stay flexible too. You never know who you'll meet at a coffee shop or on the subway that could change everything. I've accepted I can't control what twists and turns life might take me, and that's actually pretty freeing. As long as I stay open to new ideas and people, I think surprising opportunities have a way of finding me too.
You can have your whole life planned out to be a smooth one and it ends up going South and the opposite can happen. There are people who look hopeless in the streets but they're going to be the next millionaires.
One day can make a huge difference, so while you're making all the plans, leave some room from surprises of life. I guess what I'm trying to say is don't be one sided about life, don't be too optimistic or to pessimistic but a little bit of both.
